"Leonard Speaking"
'Leonard Thinking'
Private Hall, Hilton Hotel, Washington DC
The first meeting of Chaldea was a resounding success, at least from Leonard's perspective. The scientists, teachers, engineers and every other guest, not only connected well with each other, they also connected well with him. At first, many were apprehensive about opening up about their fields and research to someone who could only be described as an 'outsider', but they quickly changed their minds.
Leonard moved around the party with the ease of an orca in water. He spoke each person's language, subtly outclassing them in their own fields. He impressed neurosurgeons with his understanding of the brain, mesmerized hackers with his vision for the internet, and baffled engineers with his ideas. At the end of the conference, everyone was given a card that gave them access to a Chaldea server.
As the guests filtered out of the hall, Leonard was left with Paige, Mike, Elliot, Emil, Sofia, and Giselle. Leonard looked at his team, his inner circle, before announcing, "Now, we can consider the first meeting of Chaldea complete. I have discussed a lot with people outside, but now, we need to talk."
The group moved to a smaller lounge as Leonard ordered some wine for everyone. Sitting at the center, Leonard swirled his wine glass, sipping lightly before setting it to the side.
Leonard watched everyone relax a little before he started, "Right now, Chaldea is weak. We don't have a lot of money, we don't have the resources to completely fund every project that comes to us. We need more people, people in finance who can play the game of money, people in the media who can make sure that we control the narrative, we also need people who have political power. We also need people in law enforcement and judiciary, otherwise, we will easily be blindsided and attacked until nothing is left."
Mike was puzzled at the points Leonard raised. "But we're not doing anything wrong. Aren't we being too cautious?"
Leonard raised his eyebrow at Mike, "Mike, you just saw me erase the memories of five people. Do you think that if the news of this technology is leaked, we will have an easy time? This is also the reason why my technology resembles the Men in Black neuralyser. If I pull it out, I will be thought of as a nerd at most. It is not exactly suspicious at first glance. Thankfully, it is DNA coded, so any other person who gets their hands on it will not be able to do any damage. But it is a disruptive technology. It is not like cold fusion nuclear reactors, or batteries that can work for years, or cars that can run on plastic shreds, but it is still disruptive."
Everyone nodded at the logic. Mike shrunk in his seat a little, but Leonard comforted him, "I understand that it is difficult to fight the world. We don't want to do it either. But when we step on toes, we must also know how to dodge the punches."
Paige added, "Currently, most of the discoveries are monopolised by universities, corporations or the military. If a new body of scientists suddenly arises that has technology or advancements far ahead of its time, the government may label us as terrorists, the media will spin it as if we were making bombs, the companies will send spies to find out sour secrets. Maybe no one in this room will survive more than a year."
Emil nodded, "I agree. Humans have always tried to destroy what they didn't understand. That is why weapons were the first tools we made."
Giselle interrupted them, "The first thing we have to do is ensure our safety. I could get in touch with my contacts. We could hire veterans to protect people…"
Leonard interrupted, "And how are we going to pay them? I have money, but I am not Tony Stark. My money alone could support the organization for a couple of months at most. The first thing we have to do is make money."
Elliot sneered at that. Money had always been a part of his complaints against society. Leonard turned to him and explained, "I understand your misgivings about money Elliot. You have complained about it enough in your posts. But it is a truth of society. Money represents value, and you can not get anything of value for free in lawful society."
Elliot was puzzled at the post part, but he agreed with Leonard's logic. Unless a better system is built, money is the way to go. Leonard turned back to the group and announced, "So, the first order of business is money. I had Mike set up a company, a holding company and a non-profit organization. The company will be our starting point; we will use that to launch internet products and reach a large audience. Once people use that, we can funnel that money to the holding company. In future, every company will be under that holding company and large portions of the profit would fund the non-profit Chaldea Scientific Institute. In the future, we would start an investment company to invest in ideas that can have a positive change in the world."
As everyone agreed to the plans and kept adding their ideas, Sofia spoke, "Why do this?"
Leonard looked at her in question. Sofia clarified, "You are smart, rich and obviously far more technically advanced. Why create something that will take up your life and may even fail?"
Leonard took a deep breath and looked at everyone. All of them had a questioning look, but Paige had a soft, encouraging smile. Leonard smiled unconsciously as he realised that she understood. From his ideas to his motives, everything was clear as day to Paige. Leonard answered, "Because science is beautiful. In trying to understand science, I came to love this world, with all its mysteries and puzzles. And I didn't want something that I cared so much about, to die due to corruption, greed and ignorance. This modern society brings out the worst in us. I wanted something, anything, that brought out the best in us."
Everyone at the table looked at Leonard with respect. They respected him before, mainly for his intelligence and ability, but now, they respected him for his vision and his determination to do everything for that vision.
An Hour Later
Leonard was driving his Jaguar, with Paige sitting in the passenger seat. There was a comfortable silence in the car as Leonard drove around DC. He turned to Paige, "When do you leave for Geneva?"
Paige looked out of the window, "Tomorrow afternoon. I joined CERN about five years ago, so every moment in the States seems like I am home."
Leonard hummed at that. He considered something for a moment and asked, "Do you want to see my house? While I live in Pasadena, I bought a place in DC. It is also my lab, so you might see some of my experiments."
Paige looked at Leonard, his face lit by the shining streetlamps while the car formed shadows at his forehead. Leonard's question showed no hesitation, despite his private nature. It seems that she had earned his trust, just like Leonard earned hers. She smiled a happy smile and replied, "It will be my pleasure."
Leonard grinned and the car sped towards the outskirts.
Warehouse, Washington DC
Leonard opened the lock to the gate as lights filled the warehouse. He entered the warehouse, leading Paige in.
Paige looked at the clean, almost clinical warehouse. Everything was neatly organised with no tools in sight. The warehouse was divided into several compartments, each compartment carrying experimental work. Leonard whistled as the compartments moved to the side, revealing a small corridor between them.
Leonard explained, "I am usually busy with different experiments at the same time. Instead of making the walls solid, leading to messy rooms, most of my experiments use platforms. These platforms can move around the warehouse, ensuring that every experiment is readily available. The walls, or screens, you see can also shift around the warehouse, ensuring access to sections I want and walling off everything I don't want at the moment."
Paige nodded approvingly, "A mechanized flow state platform system. Your use of the space here is amazing. If needed, all these walls and experiments will shift to the side making room for more experiments."
Leonard nodded before calling the QBot. The robot rolled down from the ramp approaching Leonard. It moved its camera to Paige, before turning back to Leonard and beeping.
Leonard said, "This is Dr. Paige Swanson. Add her to the access list. Code name Athena. Access level Alpha."
The round robot beeped again before leaving the same way. Paige looked at the robot in astonishment before snapping out of the daze. Leonard looked at her before explaining, "I made him in the image of R2D2 from Star Wars. Do you know that movie?
Paige nodded, "A friend of mine was obsessed with it. I wonder if he stopped watching it. The science and tech shown in the movie seemed so unreal.
Leonard laughed before saying, "While QBot cannot work on space ships, he is capable enough to manage my lab. The access code and level I gave you will allow you access to the lab and Alpha level experiments. My fabricator is Alpha level."
The walls moved as a device similar to a 3D printer but bigger moved to the front. Leonard gestured towards it, "This is the fabricator. It uses additive technology to print anything you can think of."
Paige looked at it before commenting, "It looks like a 3D printer."
Leonard smiled, "Works like one too. but I would love to see any other 3D printer that can print an integrated circuit and chip better than any lithograph machine in the world."
Leonard pulled the dumbfounded Paige towards his other experiments. His CBots, a small army of robots that could be controlled by brainwaves, were especially significant. Although it was an experiment in making nanobots, these were not useless. Leonard used them for construction work around the lab.
The highlight was MedBud. When Paige learned that it used a hybrid traditional and quantum lattice brain, she was shocked. Room temperature Quantum based computers were decades ahead. She learned more about it and kept grilling him for half an hour. Leonard laughed as he answered. He had spent months on these projects. Tonight, every second spent working on these projects seemed to be worth it. He joked, explained, complained and laughed, filling the warehouse with laughter. After a tour that lasted two hours, Leonard led Paige to the upper floor. It was a small bedroom he constructed in his first month in order to stop wasting his time spent on travelling to his hotel from the lab.
There was a large bed raised on a platform. The room was clean and lit with soft yellow light. At the side, there was a bookshelf, containing books on a variety of subjects. From fiction to philosophy, mathematics, science, economics, sociology, psychology and many other topics. On the other side was a case containing Leonard's cello, and a large harp.
Paige sat on the bed, looking at the books and the harp. She turned to Leonard, "Looks like you read a lot here."
Leonard shook his head, "No, these are the books I refer to. For four months, I read exclusively at the Library of Congress. These books are the ones that were not informative, but inspiring. They talk about the essence of their subjects, instead of details. For me, that is more valuable than the details in other books."
Paige pointed to the harp with her eyes, "And what about that?"
Leonard smiled, "About a month ago, I decided to pick up some skills. Harp seemed complex and challenging, so I decided to pick it. It was horrendous at the beginning, but I can say, I have improved a lot. Wanna hear?"
Paige smiled and nodded. Leonard quickly pulled the harp towards the bed, taking another side. Soon his fingers danced on the strings as the air was filled with music. It sounded of joy, wonder and mystery. For the next hour Leonard kept playing. Sometimes, he would simply strum the strings, other times, he would play old songs Paige requested. Finally, Leonard placed the harp back in its place before lying down next to Paige.
The two stared at a window just above the bed. The clear sky in the place showed countless sparkling stars. Leonard added, "I made the window with CBots. Under these stars, I had more restful sleep."
Paige sighed, "They seem so close. As if you can just jump and reach them."
Leonard turned to her, "Don't worry," he whispered. "Someday, we'll reach them — for real."
AN: This is the penultimate chapter in the Sabbatical Arc. Leonard will head back to Pasadena soon.
AN2: A heartfelt thanks to my patrons Darren Burns, Haku, Darth Melkor, Matthew Hankins, Nathan, Randomdepressed, TyrantGod, Lamar Naugles, Kameron Krueger, Rickard Gustavsson, Jordane Minott, Luke Bohlander, jacob hixson, Warsame Warsame, Brody Mcdermott, madao, Neveah Strudivant, Cujo, Sam Becker, RavenSystem, Scott, phil, Emanuel Lucas Duarte de Farias, and Adearick for their support.