К Юбилею МИЭТа кафедра инстранных языков устроила конкурс для студентов «MIET: Runway into the Future». Мы публикуем лучшие работы, в которых ребята размышляли о том, каким будет МИЭТ в будущем.
Мария Величко (МП-25):
MIET: Runway into the Future.
The world is rapidly changing and nothing remains stable for a long time. The same true for Universities. What will be the MIET in the future?
In my opinion, MIET will be one of the centers of world and national science in future. The University must not only teach students, but also carry out research, some of which students should spend it. Therefore, it will be possible to bring up a new generation of excellent scientists. To do this, I think that the students will be given more freedom in the choice of subjects. There will be only a few major items that need to visit and then pass exams for it. The remaining items from the direction of the field of study the student will choose himself. I think, it is fair. All global conferences of microelectronics take place in MIET, some subjects will taught in other languages.
In a few years, half of the technical subjects in MIET will read remotely. So a third of the audience, at the University can freed there by increasing the number of incoming students. Soon the development of microelectronics and nanoelectronics in Russia will allow MIET to have some branches in different cities or the University will have a few housing for study.
Also should appear Museum of electronics in MIET. It will have the whole story of the old electronics to the latest developments.
So how I see MIET in the future. I will be very glad to see the Alma Mater University in 100 years old.
Ольга Пронькина (Ин-31):
MIET – is your runway into the future,
It opens up a lot of possibilities.
Studing here is not at all a torture,
You have for science the facility.
Here you can meet lots of interesting people,
Some of them smart, some of them queer.
Here you can see the future high steeple
of your dreams and your career.
You're sure to discover lots of things new,
You can use in the face of adversity.
You'll see a new angle, a new point of view.
MIET is the best university!
Константин Лифанов (Ин-31):
Runway into the Future – Sonnet
Unravelling the mystery
This story has no end.
Your own mark in history -
The time that you have spent,
Spent here getting knowledge,
Progressing, making friends,
Removing every blockage,
Cause it is making sense.
It’s all about tomorrow
We are grasping from today.
The treasure you will borrow
Can help you pave the way –
The way to your achievement,
The new life of fulfillment.
Юлия Жукова (Ин-31):
The cheese on rye.
English class. It's 9-00 am and I'm hungover as I stand there outside the door, listening. My parents had paid for my textbooks and I had drunk it away.
Future. Mutual.
Probably I would have a success by earning my living by my wits. The eight-hour day is impossible, yet almost everybody submit to it.
The wine tastes great. I have another. I'm still standing there, listening.
Future. Butcher.
The whole scene of education system is a nursery. They just cram you with useless theory and never tell you how hard it is outside. But without THIS they don't admit you. What a strap.
Future. Suture.
Glitch, duck, rabbit. You blame me for my blinded mindless? Rabbit, witch, mug. I, luck, see, glitch, an image, duck rabbit, of soul self-expression, mug. Catch up with me, witch? Oh, it's easier to shut your ducking mouth.
There's no time to follow runway into the future. It's high time to live today, luck.
I've opened the class door and walked in.
Ирина Галяутдинова (Ин-31):
I silently watched him while stirring the contents of my cup with a spoon. This coffee was not enjoyable at all, but at least it was something to keep my mind clear and my eyes open which I always struggle to do. I’m exceptionally good at staying awake when I’d rather not, and being sleepy every time when my full attention is required.
– Underground floors, huh? – I giggled a bit, though my conversation partner didn’t seem to be offended by the sarcastic tone of my voice. With a serious and dark expression on his face he leaned to me as if telling something very secret.
– Indeed. There are several underground floors beneath our very university and I assure you – there is something… worth seeing down there. – His lips were merely touched by a faint smile and I felt my initial incredulity fading. It was not his words or his manner of speech that convinced me, but the way he looked at me while expressing such a thought. He was not looking at me actually – he was looking through me, not blinking even once. It was a look of a man who was not lying, but recalling some past events.
– Would you dare take a look? – He said, giving me a mischievous glance. I quickly finished my coffee and nodded without giving myself any time for consideration.
We ended up in the fourth building of our university. My guide led me to the elevator which was supposed to take us down to the abyss of undiscovered floors. I flinched a bit, getting more and more nervous with every step drawing me closer to our destination. It was not a pleasant sensation – every inch of my body was covered with goosebumps and a feeling of dizziness was not helping at all. Somehow I felt reluctant to go there. Or maybe I was shivering with anticipation waiting to discover something new, something… Unnatural.
– Are we there yet? – I did my best to make my voice sound as indifferent as ever, but it actually sounded very strained. Too strained to be unnoticed by my guide.
– Getting pretty nervous, I see? –he laughed a bit. – It’s okay. We’re nearly there.
At last, we have found the needed door. He gave me a short glance and pushed some buttons on a panel which I couldn’t have possibly seen before as it was hidden from the eyes of a curious stranger. The sounds of working machinery were pretty loud and a bit unpleasant – as if this construction hasn’t been used for ages. It was late evening, and still I was surprised to not be caught by some lecturer.
– We are trespassing, aren’t we? – I should’ve probably asked this earlier, but the question just didn’t come to my mind. My guide didn’t answer though I tend to believe that silence often implies consent. Or that some questions should be better left unanswered.
The doors began to move apart and I found myself shivering from tip to toe. The elevator shaft was old and rusty, the only source of light was a poorly working flickering light bulb. I got a feeling that the moment I take this step – I wouldn’t be able to go back.
And even if I was about to stop here, my body was moving against my will. I entered the elevator, my guide followed me there. The doors closed with a very nasty sound and suddenly we were descending.
There were no walls in this elevator, as I’d discovered very soon. And as 2 or 3 minutes had passed, my eyes met an indescribable sight: a great zone with an endless downfall covering most space. All around that lightless abyss there were hundreds of corridors leading to thousands of rooms and labs. I couldn’t possibly imagine that such a thing could exist in the real world, even though I’d seen so very much of science-fiction movies. But it was real. The noise of a moving elevator was echoing, bouncing from the distant walls, making it sound even more obscure but somehow a bit melodic, like a type of an ambient. And it was the music of these halls which we were ought to enjoy as we were descending further and further. Both of us were speechless, I could see out of the corner of my eye that my guide had his mouth open as he was completely astonished. My vision began to get blurry and my stomach was in pain, I was fainting and the painful expression on my face got the attention of my guide.
– Are you okay? Maria? Maria!
He reached out and caught me as I was about to fall. Suddenly, a distorted sound pierced through our ears. As we got used to it, we were surprised to find out that that was a very mutilated voice coming from one of the speakers which were placed all around this area. Those words appeared before my eyes as I was slipping into the darkness:
hElP mE—
***
It was not Maria’s first morning to wake up from nightmares. She couldn’t get used to seeing these images in her head; they were pursuing her every day since she agreed to help on this mission.
She was in the Investigator Group which included three people apart from her – Julia, Alexander and Mikhail. It was a team from National Research Institute MIET whose mission was to discover the source of the signal coming down from the underground laboratories. Their location is top secret and few people know about their very existence and even less people have been there. It may seem to some that it must be a great honor to join this expedition and be one of those few fortunate souls who had an opportunity to discover the most mysterious place in MIET. Though this joy comes with many dangers: members of the party were told in no uncertain terms that there might be no way out for them and that they are to stay in that zone for a month or months. No matter how honorable and interesting it may be, many people who were offered to go there refused without thinking.
Except for this particular party. These people had nothing to lose and they were absolute fanatics when it comes to their work. That’s probably why they were chosen at the first place.
It was 8:00 AM and they were about to have their final meeting at 12:00. But Maria couldn’t possibly fall asleep again – she was anxious, nervous and… intrigued. All the preparations were made, she had all that she would ever need and yet she couldn’t help but checking everything once again. She wanted everything to be under her control, though she wasn’t the actual leader of their group. This honor passed to Alexander for he possessed the required skills of a true leader. Maria wouldn’t mind. She can take care of herself, but caring about some group of people – it was not her cup of tea.
She arrived early looking for her party members and hoping that she was not the only one to lack the ability to sleep at this hour. The sigh of relief left her lips as she saw Julia and Mikhail – not the best company for a small tea-party, but good enough scholars. Julia was a very self-conscious and emphatic person who had a strange habit of having pity for every form of life on this planet. She smiled shyly as her eyes met with Maria’s, Maria smiled back and nodded. Mikhail… Let’s just say, that he always kept to himself. A very smart and a very reserved person, not a talkative type at any rate. When it comes to talks, Alex was the one to do the job. Speaking of the Devil…
– Morning, folks! Ready for an adventure which will probably lead us to our horrible deaths? - smiling widely, He appeared. Without waiting for a response, he turned to his bags containing all the required supplies and started counting them aloud.
– For God’s sake, Alex, - Mikhail’s voice had even more indignation in it than ever. – You’re such a pain.
– Oh my, look who gave his voice! Don’t shout at me, a walking lecture, or I’ll die of a heart attack.
Mikhail sniffed contemptuously and looked away. Finally, the Head in charge showed up. The man looked rather sulky - as pretty much always.
– Do you remember your instructions? – He was questioning Alex rather than all of them.
– Indeed. Can you call the elevator? Underground floor, please. –the joke didn’t win any appreciation though Alex needed none. All of the members picked up their belongings as the Head put in the code in the secret panel. They decided to use the code system (making the code different every day) after an accident which happened about 50 years ago, when the whole university was celebrating its 50th Birthday. A couple of students found out about this particular elevator and managed to enter it. They never made it back.
The rusty machinery sounds made some of them to pucker. Maria felt the creeps running all over her body and she shivered a bit. Alex noticed that and shot a grin at her.
– Getting pretty nervous, I see?
Recalling her dream, Maria looked at him with great astonishment.
– How do you…
– Here we are! – Alex victoriously threw up his hands. The elevator has arrived and opened his sliding doors for them inviting into the cold semi-darkness of its shaft. Maria swallowed nervously.
– Find the source of a signal and come back. ASAP. – The Head looked at all of them severely yet solicitously. – And be careful.
The Group entered the elevator, the doors closed and a descent began. Maria felt her hands growing colder with every inch they moved downwards. The sight she’d witnessed in her dreams now became real – the Underground floors were planned as some kind of a hollow tube: a great amount of corridors on its walls and an enormous abyss in the centre. The darkness of this gap seemed to be spreading all over this place though there was tons of lightning equipment around there.
– Just look at this place. – Alex whistled. – Easy to get lost, I presume.
– How many people must’ve got lost here… - Julia had a very painful expression on her face as she was thinking about poor ones who ended up wandering around those places.
– Pull yourself together, Jul, it’s not that bad. We’re going to be explorers! We already are! Nice, isn’t it? – Alex smiled at her and she couldn’t help smiling back.
The descent had come to its end and they were finally free to look around. While Mikhail was preparing some equipment to find the location of a signal, Alex was fooling around screaming “Hello” at the top of his lungs and smiling at the sound of the echo.
– Is there anybody here? – He shouted and Maria gave him a poke in the ribs.
– Stop doing that. Why did they make you our leader once again? – She giggled a bit seeing his deeply offended expression.
– Because I’m a great leader, that’s all. An intelligent, smart, humorous, attractive in all possible ways…
– Shh! – Maria darkened as she’d heard some noise – probably coming from the abyss. – I think I heard something.
– It was the sound of Alex’s ego growing wider. – Mikhail laughed a bit at this remark made by Julia which Alex pretended not to hear.
Maria drew closer to the abyss and started to listen as careful as she could. But there were no sounds.
– Alright then! Let us proceed. – Alex was smiling again (nothing could possibly break his spirit) and everyone moved further passing some locked doors in this corridor.
“hElP mE—“
It couldn’t be her imagination. Maria gasped and turned back at the sound of this distorted voice to find absolutely nothing.
“What is going on in this place?” – She frowned more and more and suddenly caught a sight of Julia who was looking back too. She looked at Maria then and both of them understood that they were thinking about the same thing.
– Yes, I didn’t have breakfast this morning. – Alex folded his arms and Mikhail sighed with annoyance.
– Such a pain… I’ll go and look around, you stay here.
– I’m coming with you! – Julia stood up from a chair and took her backpack. Mikhail shrugged and left the lab followed by Julia. Maria was trying to get into one of the computers standing around this room but all of her attempts were vain so far.
– Just forget it; it’s not going to cooperate. Maybe we’ll be able to find a keycard or something that has a pass written on it.
Maria looked at Alex angrily and sighed.
– There might me something helpful. And you’re not helping at all!
– I need a particular amount of energy to do this kind of thing and I’m all out of it. So, if you excuse me… - he sank his teeth into a piece of bread with butter. Maria was getting peckish as well but she wanted to save her food – they didn’t know yet how much time they were to spend searching for this signal.
– Maybe there is no signal…
– What are you saying? – Alex looked at her curiously.
– Huh? Oh, just thinking aloud. – Maria tried to produce a smile but was not successful at all. Alex tapped her on the shoulder and smiled encouragingly.
– We’re going to find it. We’re top-class specialists, are we not? At least you and Mkihail are. – He laughed a bit. Maria finally managed to smile.
– Thanks for saying that you’re dumb for me.
– Now that’s rude!
Mikhail entered the room looking rather confused.
– My equipment doesn’t seem to work properly here. There is some kind of interference, distortion… We need to get moving.
He shrugged. Maria looked at him and then looked behind him.
– And there’s Julia? - She looked into Mikhail’s eyes while he tried to look away. – Where is she?
– I think she’s around there… Somewhere. We split up.
– Mikhail! – Maria rushed into the corridor, Alex followed her. – You go left, and mine is right. Go!
Alex obeyed her command and she followed her own route. She was calling out for Julia and finally saw an open room. She looked inside and saw Julia standing in front of the computer and staring in it intensely.
– Julia! Here you are, thanks Goodness. I was afraid we’d lost you…
Julia turned to her, tears running down her cheeks.
– They’re here.
Maria was confused - to say the least. And then she got scared - something was very wrong with Julia: she was shivering and went totally pale.
– Look. The voices.
Maria looked at the computer and was surprised to find it in a working condition. She reached for a mouse and tried to open some report, but all of the files were corrupted. Texts were nothing but some meaningless set of symbols. She sighed disappointedly and then…
There was some noise coming from the speakers. Somehow it sounded like a human… breathing?
– What is it? – Maria frowned. She got a feeling of a lump in her throat.
“hElP mE—“
Her eyes got wider.
“iM aL- al0nE—“
Her sight went blurry.
“m-kE IT ST0P—“
And everything went dark as Julia was trying to catch her unconscious body.