Dan Dan and the Land of Maths

The Mathematics of Time and Space

Daniel and his father are gliding down the freeway in a sleek black vintage Citroen DS.

Daniel, clocking up driving hours in his logbook as he progresses towards a full driver's license, is at the wheel as the morning climbs over the distant hills ahead.

He's following the reflection of the sunrise and the clouds above moving through the dark sheen of the bonnet while his father, squinting into the brilliant sun is in full-on teacher mode.

'You see Daniel when the Citroen DS was introduced in 1955 it was like nothing anyone had seen before. It was as if a beautiful superlative object had fallen from the sky bearing gifts of comfort and style wrapped up in a symphony of new plastics.'

Daniel yawns as he endures the Citroen lecture one more time. 'Yes, dad.'

His father continues,

'Future Shock... that's what they called it...The dashboard looked more like the working surface of a modern kitchen than the control room of a factory. The slim panes of matte fluted metal, the small levers topped by a white ball, the simple dials, the very discreteness of the nickel-work, all this signified a kind of control exercised over motion rather than performance. And this from a country whose fundamental tenets of driving include "if in doubt accelerate" and "two objects can occupy the same space at the same time".'

Daniel gazes longingly at the radio and wonders if he can turn it on without offending his endearingly kind and slightly bonkers dad.

His father is waving his arms, pointing to parts of the car like a mad conductor leading an orchestra.

'Driving the DS is more than driving a car, it's like being transported in a work of art, it's no longer about the destination, it's about the glory of the ride.'

'Well, unless we get some fuel soon it won't be about the destination or the glorious ride. It will be about the fuel can and the long walk.' replies Daniel in exasperation.

'Oh fine, yes of course, er, there's a station ahead, pull in there.'

'We should go a bit further dad, the fuel is always more expensive here.'

'Oh, the price per litre never affects me because I always put in forty dollars.'

Daniel, wanting to bang his head on the steering wheel, chooses to ignore the comment and as they pull onto the forecourt he asks, 'is the fuel cap on your side?'

'Oh, yes, I've always found it to be very supportive.'

Daniel, now grinding his teeth, imagines the eternity required to complete his logbook and wonders about an alternative life of catching Uber's instead.

Leaving the petrol station Daniel, almost maniacally, flicks on the radio and quickly tunes it away from whatever it was set too.

'Triple - J news, I'm Amelia Marshall, the disappearance overnight of two buildings in Newcastle and Sydney is causing widespread concern in both the Government and the community. While no one is understood to have been hurt in the incidents Australia's national terrorism threat level has been raised to Orange with further attacks expected.

The Commonwealth Science Industry Research Organisation or CSIRO, Energy Center in Newcastle, and the iconic Number One Bligh street in Sydney, home to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, amongst others, have both wholly disappeared in the early hours of this morning.

In an emergency press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, representatives from the armed forces stated that the "Spontaneous Unplanned Disassembly' of the two buildings are being investigated as acts of terrorism. But insufficient evidence, or indeed any debris is hampering investigations.