Yeah sure, anytime you want, Leo. I should cook next time we hang out.
Deal, sounds good, oh BTW hiking on Saturday so don’t plan anything :-)
K ;-)
He slid his iPhone back in his pocket and scooped up the chicken and asparagus onto a dinner plate. He took a moment to admire his meal and then dug in. He enjoyed every bite and washed down his meal with lemonade.
He wanted to get his ideas out on paper before he forgot any nuances of it, but he also wanted to setup the artwork he purchased from the metal shop. He already had a place in mind to put the coaster.
Leo went into the gallery room and started to unwrap the coaster. He tore away the paper and looked it over; smiling in excitement, he lifted his ball sculpture and placed it on the table in back of the couch.
He pulled out the ball, from its storage area on the base, and placed it on the starting point at the top of the track on the coaster. He let the ball go and it glided down the track smoothly, the ball shinny and reflective.
He stood back and watched the ball run the track of loops and corkscrews, rolling with perfect precision as it finished its course. He then grabbed the other package containing the clock.
Happy with his purchase, he looked to his right at the coaster while Willy intently watched outside at mystery ghosts that didn’t exist.
Leo smiled at Willy then went into the kitchen to put the clock on the island and began to unwrap it. He was more cautious with this piece as it did have a lot of moving timekeeping parts.
He carefully picked up the clock and hung it on the wall across from the fridge. He took the key, wound it up tight and set the hands before putting it in motion.
Leo listened to the tick-tock of the clock while he texted Tyler and let him know about the hike the coming weekend. Hearing Willy growling at the door Leo went to see what he was doing now. I swear; this cat is high maintenance.
He picked up the loose paper from both rooms, made them into a giant ball, and rolled it playfully toward Willy. Willy jumped straight up two feet and let out a screech.
“Chill out fur ball, you’re gonna hurt yourself,” Leo said as he closed the screen door behind him. On the porch, he looked over to see the squirrel sitting on the table staring at the tablet screen. The screen lit up blue, reflecting off his small black eyes.
As Leo approached the table the squirrel looked over hesitantly and darted into the bushes. Leo sat down and cleared the unauthorized screen, but not before seeing for a split second a message that he thought read, Red Tailed squirrel. The message was brief and the type small, but he couldn’t get the screen back anyway.
He decided to see if he could put his ideas on the tablet, so he could work on it whenever he had a thought and if need be, ready for use at school.
He had to try to hack into the available programs, but the system was acting as a closed system and only displayed what it was designed to show.
There was an entire system, most were unaware of except the coders, that lay underneath. He found the system heavily guarded and unusual, the whole system custom.
“Come on. I just want a word processor or drawing program!”
He exited out, tried another way, and found himself in a sub system. It was not a graphical user interface, but it would do the job.
He pulled up the program he wanted marked by an ABC icon. He had never heard of it but had to admit it is perfect for his work. He laughed to himself and thought maybe this thing was not as high tech as he thought.
He dug in and concentrated on putting his vision into illustration and code, the true form of his idea. This new project, once again, was not entirely software, it would also require hardware to complete. It was essential for his invention to have a strong physical component, and he would address this later.
He worked with trance-like concentration, oblivious to the transmission icon in the upper right-hand corner giving the Sullivan’s updates, contents unknown to Leonard as he worked on his newest breakthrough.
Chapter 17
Computers hummed to life four stories below the Sullivan mansion in the deep dark Pennsylvania woods. Fox One was alerted by the system and looked over the very limited info he had on the computer lab’s sudden late-night activity.
He was not privileged to any specific information pertaining to the lab or even its location, but high activity this late was rare, especially anything from an outside source.
The Phantom checked his readout on his wrist communicator and forwarded all data immediately to Mr. Sullivan. After sending the details, he pushed his comms button on his shoulder. He dreaded calling her this late, but he had to confirm these transmissions were legitimate or if there were any issues.
“Mrs. Sullivan, this is Fox One. We have a data burst in the computer lab, confirm it’s friendly and authorize, please.”
His response from Evelyn came quickly “Fox One those transmissions are friendly. Don’t bother with this in the future.”
“Ma’am, security of this estate is my job. Who authorized these transmissions?”
“The data center’s activities aren’t your concern. I appreciate your diligence; however, your function is strictly grounds security.”
“I’m not here to argue, ma’am. I am responsible for the safety of this building and its contents. If you can’t confirm these transmissions are authorized, I will initiate breech protocol and neutralize the source.”
Mrs. Sullivan processed her next response carefully; she did not want issues with Mr. Sullivan and she sure did not want his scrutiny.
“Fox One, I don’t like your tone. As for these activities, I am authorizing them personally. Return to your post.”
“Ten-Four on your authorization Mrs. Sullivan.”
He thought about telling her it would be in his report, but he thought it best to leave that out. He wanted Mr. Sullivan to get the information without her being aware.
* * *
Mr. Sullivan was in heaven as he looked over Fox One’s transmission, as well as all the data Leonard’s tablet was providing live. The young student had breezed through the first nine lessons with ease. He was furious that the test had been interrupted and shut down, presumably by Evelyn. This was the only reason he left it in play.
He would remove this restriction. He wanted Leo working on the lessons and testing. The newest transmission was the icing on the cake; this idea was brilliant. He pondered about Leo and worked on removing the restriction from Test 1.
He found it humorous that Leonard thought he hacked into the tablet’s system. It had been Mr. Sullivan that created a partition and let Leo in, so he could work on his newest creation. The fact that Leo thought the system was easily hacked and unsophisticated made things all the easier.
Mr. Sullivan couldn’t lift the block on Test 1 and he slammed down his fist. Dammit. She knows better. She better stop meddling if she knows what’s good for her. He discovered that Mrs. Sullivan had put the Lessons and testing on a third partition in read-only function, and the only details from the tablet’s partition were auto-transmitted.
He suspected she had moved them after he had discovered the tablet with Fox One’s scan. He was suspicious now that she may know he had knowledge and access to the tablet. He had to push her to remove the restrictions without tipping her off.
Normally he would not tip toe around, he would just demand it, but these were different times and things were more delicate. He rarely opened communication with his other half, but he felt compelled to do so now. He loaded his soft-phone on the computer and dialed via their secure encrypted line, a bit wary as this was the only time anything had a chance of being hacked, since the signal ran both ways.
“Hello, Evelyn. How are things in those deep dark woods of yours?”
“Well, hello, Artemus. I haven’t heard you over the wire in quite some time. With things being busy and all, I am a stranger to your voice. I do wish things were different between us.”
“Evelyn please, use Mr. Sull
ivan for these transmissions. Now more than ever it is a necessity. I too wish for peace, but others wish just the opposite for ones such as us.”
“What kind is that?”
“Educated.”
They both laughed briefly.
“I always admired your ability to create humor in the most morbid predicaments,” Evelyn said.
“Well many feel it’s not welcome or wanted in business such as ours. I argue it is a necessity in business such as ours, the pressure alone can crush you otherwise.”
“Yes, yes I know you feel many businessmen and women are often robots spewing agendas and bottom lines, boring tools that blend into the sea of humanity.”
Mr. Sullivan pulled up the code written to spy on Leonard. “Wow, you do know me quite well, it is true though. Well enough of the frivolities I suppose, the reason for my call is the recent data activity. It is a concern. What is the nature of these transmissions?”
“Well, I knew you’d be calling and just so you know, there’s no need for concern. I authorized it myself and this was a routine data dump.”
Artemus leaned back in his chair, he was confident she was lying to him now. “A data dump, huh, well that is routine depending on the data. You would tell me if this was something more wouldn’t you, dear?”
“Oh, of course, after all we’re in this together, dear.”
“Good, good and, of course, if a code breaker had been found or if Regeneration Protocol had been activated, I would be the first to know?”
“Naturally, dear. Full Regeneration is for us both to achieve.”
“Very well, glad all is well. I’ll be traveling in the next month if no progress is met. Gooday.”
He ended the call with a click, fuming. She is sticking to her guns about the true nature of the data dump. He knew she felt she was doing something productive, but she was just so reckless. If she did not take the hint, he had another plan that would achieve his goal.
With or without her he would have his code breaker.
Chapter 18
Leo jotted down a few more things about his idea and spent the rest of the night studying inside at the kitchen table. He looked out onto the maze seeing why Willy continued to throw a fuss. The night was bright, almost a full moon, and he could see his palm tree blowing in the wind and the lights glowing in the maze.
He thought he heard the ball rolling on the coaster; he turned to see Willy playing with the ball.
“Willy, stop.”
Willy looked up and stopped, then jumped onto the couch. As Leo walked back to head up the stairs he was startled by a clear sound bing, bong, bong, bing, followed by a low bong, sounding out eleven times. He would have to get used to the new clock chiming.
Leo turned off all the lights down stairs and headed up the steps, creaking as he ascended. Willy met him at the top as Leo’s last step came down on the second-floor landing. Feeling good about finishing his studies, he climbed into bed, but before falling asleep Leo thought about his new idea the one he had been waiting for. Maybe not one to define him, but it would launch him on a path, he was certain of it.
He smiled, thinking of its immense success and whether he would still want, need, or be able to finish his schooling. He had the feeling he would soon need to make this very decision. Willy hopped in bed, tiptoed his way up and perched atop Leo’s chest.
His purring put an already tired Leo into a peaceful slumber, the maze lighting dimmed off leaving the room in soft moonlight. Shadows of leaves danced on the walls and ceiling, the only sound the faint tick-tock of the clock down stairs.
Leo woke to the sound of the clock sounding off. He counted three chimes and rolled on his side. He let out a breath and began dozing again. It felt like he had been asleep for only a few minutes when he heard chimes once more. His senses fuzzy, he strained his eyes at the bright light shining in his dilated pupils. He blinked repeatedly as the light seemed to intensify.
He tried to sit up but was impeded by wiring that tugged at his head. He reached out and found that the wires trailed down his chest. He followed them with his fingers, where they terminated at the back of his neck. They were screwed into his flesh with metal leads. Thrashing, he began to panic. He was still in his bed, but things seemed out of place.
“What the hell is going on?”
He adjusted his eyes and made out the edges of something familiar, the tablet, with leads from his head plugged into either side of the device. The screen was too bright, so he tried to sit up pulling on the steadfast leads, he felt at its base, wires snaked out of it and ran directly into his torso under his skin.
He rocked into an upright position, the screen now clear, he looked it over. A single eye in the middle with read outs of graphs with live-streaming data all around it filled the screen.
An unfamiliar voice muttered in Leo’s ears, a disembodied voice as if the thoughts themselves were going directly into his mind. The words were indistinguishable except for an occasional one: “The closer you are”
The gibberish became louder and louder then, “Choose wisely.” The words came out as whispers, but the volume began to hurt his ears and irritate his nerves.
He reached for the wires and pulled at them, finally yanking them out with a pop. Cold gushing fluid rushed down his neck and back. He became drowsy trying to keep his eyelids open.
On the tablet’s screen, he saw prototypes and blueprints of Flash Match and his invention e-Frond.
Panicking now, he puzzled how someone could have these schematics. The leads jammed back into the holes in his neck sending pain down his spine, the wires lit up on either side, one green and one blue.
His senses returned, and he saw he was in a bubble within his room. Tyler, Sarafina and Annabelle were yelling and slamming their fists on the clear barrier, their faces contorted in panic and anger. He realized their screams were silent due to the whispering voice and the clear bubble. Sarafina pointed at something. He tried to turn his head, but he was unable to, the wires were too tight.
He looked beyond his screaming friend and thought the room seemed different; it was not his cottage. His eyes locked on the mirror hanging on the wall. A dark figure stood behind him, holding the wiring tight in his head, leaning over whispering in his ear. Leo realized the whispering was not coming from the tablet but the dark figure.
He tried to wrestle the wires away from him, but the figure remained frozen and unmoved, still whispering even louder.
The glowing lines went dark where they connected to the tablet. The blue and green light remaining traveled slowly up the wires until they disappeared behind his head.
He struggled with the wires and pulled them out, immediately he lost muscle control and collapsed back onto the bed, before the light dimmed and he passed out, he saw the figure standing over him. He did know the shadow, the voice had been distorted, but the face was now clear.
It was his father.
Leo was shaken by his swirling emotions, remembering the last time he saw his father alive.
What was he trying to tell me?
Leo’s mind then blacked out completely.
Chapter 19
Leo opened his eyes to his buzzing alarm. He went to turn it off, but his hand could not locate the clock. He sat up, looked at his torso and felt the back of his head, no wounds or holes were present.
Wow, that was another crazy dream. The dream was so vivid, so real. His father’s presence in his dream was strange, confusing and upsetting. He dismissed the dream and sat up.
He found the alarm clock on the floor in pieces alongside his pillow wadded into a ball. No figure stood behind him and no bubble in his room. That was a dream?! Of course it was, but it seemed so real.
He shook off the confusion and soon became excited it was Friday. He got out of bed and silenced the alarm. Willy was on the bed staring at him with a confused look, all his fur puffed out in fright. Leo ran his hand down his back trying to smooth down his puffed fur. Willy hopped off the bed, rubbed his s
ide down Leo’s leg, and began to purr.
After his shower, Leo felt a little sluggish from his intense dream giving him a few more REM’s than necessary.
He quickly dressed as usual and gathered his backpack, books, and the tablet. Willy ran down stairs to protest Leo’s departure. He made sure to fill Willy’s bowl with more food before he left the house. He looked at his coaster, picked up the ball and let it go. Smiling as he watched it wind its way down to the bottom of the tracks stopping with a clink.
Leo had a light day and ate lunch with Sarafina at the on-campus restaurant while he worked on fine-tuning his e-Frond creation. The coding was complicated and many of the initial drawings needed to be refined.
He jotted notes on the fronds functionality as he sketched. The drawing was shaping up nicely, even so there was plenty to write as most of this idea, as far as he is concerned, was software.
He knew e-Frond would be more involved than Flash Match.
His design would need custom parts, servos, metalwork, and quite possibly a sophisticated efficient electrical system. He wanted to eliminate the servo count, reduce the cost and weight, but more importantly reduce the chance of failure of these components.
The design as its name suggested is essentially a palm frond. Its accordion-like structure would allow various states of effectiveness. Its surface would be either porous, semi porous, or solid, adjustable depending on its application. The fronds would be customizable in size and shape, but his focus was the core functionality.
e-Frond would have a multitude of uses, allowing filtration, purification, energy generation and flow management. These initial features were just the tip of the iceberg. All of this would be done through its adjustable accordion structure, porous heatable surface, magnetic polarization, and inlaid turbines.
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