Rilley stopped to think about it for a moment, weighing whether he should make room in his busy schedule. He was not putting on airs. He truly was busy.
When he thought about it seriously, he realized that ever since he had become aware of the world he lived in, he had not stopped to rest for even a single day. If he was not studying, then he was conducting experiments, always using his time to prepare for the future.
The time he spent with his family had gradually decreased until they could only communicate by phone on certain days, while he remained in the laboratory for several days at a time.
His life became so busy that he eventually moved out and began living on his own, all to avoid worrying his parents. During that time, his father acquired a small apartment building and handed full ownership of it to him so he could do whatever he wanted with the property.
Since he had no use for the entire building, Rilley took only a few apartments for himself and left the rest untouched. He then hired the former owner to continue managing the property. It was as though the purchase had changed only the name of the owner. In practice, the management did not change at all, and the rent for the other tenants remained the same.
From what Rilley had investigated about the former owner, the man was a Russian immigrant who had arrived in the country years earlier. Before working for Rilley, he had owned the building after acquiring it through many years of work. One could say he had done quite well for himself. By then, he was already a small businessman who rented out apartments.
But everything changed after a medical diagnosis during a routine checkup. His wife was diagnosed with a severe illness, and the situation drove him deeper and deeper into debt as he struggled to pay for the expensive treatment. As his wife's condition worsened, he was left with no other choice but to put his only property up for sale. It was like selling the goose that laid the golden eggs, but at that moment, he had no other option.
Rilley felt a certain sympathy for him and ended up offering the man a job. He truly was a pitiful person. With his wife ill, he also had to take care of their only daughter. Perhaps giving him work had been nothing more than a momentary impulse after seeing something reflected in him. Not a reflection of his current condition, but of what had happened in another life.
Though the situations were different, Rilley believed the feelings were the same. That sensation of being abandoned by the world, with despair falling onto your head like a crushing blow.
Rilley had seen the man and his daughter, and then he remembered the father from his other life, a man who had ended up in ruin.
He had been a man who loved his family deeply, submissive to his wife and extremely affectionate toward his children, a boy and a girl. His wife had been very demanding of him, and his children could clearly see who truly held power in that relationship. That man had worked so hard that he became a successful small businessman, filling his family's life with luxuries and endless conveniences. But from one day to the next, everything collapsed. That father simply went mad one day, became a vagrant on the streets, and later died far from sight in a narrow, decaying alley.
At the time, Rilley had not been able to understand what had happened for things to end that way. He had even blamed his father for everything that came afterward… But much later, he realized the truth far too late. Perhaps he would have wanted to know everything when he was old enough to understand such things, but he had lived deceived, and only in his final days had he been able to understand.
That man had fallen into a deep despair, and there had been no one who could help him.
In that Russian man, Rilley seemed to see the shadow of the father from his previous life. With his world falling apart, it was only a matter of time before things ended in catastrophe. Back then, there had been no one to help. But here, Rilley was present, and he had no intention of merely watching. He reached out his hand and held the man up, showing him a light in the midst of so much darkness.
Rilley suddenly looked at his father, who still wore that relaxed smile that gave him a sense of security and calm. In this man, who was younger than Rilley had been in his previous life, there was nothing to reproach. He was an exemplary father and husband. Despite his busy schedule, he had never neglected his family. One could even say that, for him, there was no debate between family life and professional life. Without hesitation, he would set aside important meetings if he received a call from his family, even if that meant losing valuable contracts.
Rilley knew that if he told him he would not attend that dinner, his father would stand by his side and respect his decision without asking questions. He would then take it upon himself to calm his mother, no matter how much of her displeasure he had to bear.
It was not that his father spoiled him too much. Perhaps to outsiders it might seem that way. But in truth, only he and his father understood what their matters were really about. Rilley understood very well that his father would give him unconditional support only as long as he demonstrated his determination, only if what he intended to do was important, and only if he was willing to see it through to the end. Father and son had forged a mutual understanding and trust.
In his mind, Rilley debated whether to set aside his ongoing research and instead go to his parents' house to spend time with them as a family.
In the end, his family won that choice.
For whom had he done all of this, if not for them?
It would be stupid to sacrifice his parents, or the time he could spend with them, when everything he was doing was supposedly for the sake of being with them. He realized then that he had prioritized their future over living in the present with those who were beside him.
Now it was clear that Rilley should not refuse the invitation. Although Rilley had never had children in his previous life, and therefore could not know what it was like to raise them, he did understand the possible anguish his mother felt as he drifted farther and farther away, not even visiting them during family holidays. He could see that, like any other woman, she was deeply emotional, and his distance had certainly caused her many bitter moments.
His father, on the other hand, was more rational. Though concerned by his son's academic excesses, he somehow understood and had never intended to persuade him to stop. On the contrary, he was the type to encourage him more and more, to never give up no matter how many failures he went through.
That overly encouraging attitude had even created some tension in his relationship with his wife. She felt angry, even betrayed, that her husband did nothing to persuade their son or support her in stopping him. On some occasions, during the few serious arguments they had, she had thrown in his face that he did not care about his son and only cared about power and reputation.
Rilley had not known about it until a few years earlier, when he witnessed one of those arguments.
He understood that if things continued that way, they would go further, and everything would end with his parents separating. Of course, he could not allow that to happen. His father did not deserve such accusations.
Although his mother had treated him very well, that did not mean he would ignore his father and leave him alone in that situation. Just as his father had been there for him, Rilley would be there as firm support.
So he intervened in the argument and made his position clear. He had worked on his own to obtain his achievements, and he did not feel forced to continue because his father had urged him to do so.
His father had been his greatest support, always standing behind every decision he made. And in the same way, he wanted his mother to trust him and support him as well. The message seemed to come across clearly, because similar situations never occurred again, and from that moment on, his mother gave him all her support, this time without questioning him the way she had before.
But while she no longer questioned his actions in the academic and scientific fields, that did not save him from being questioned in the social sphere. During brief visits, she always asked when he would get a girlfriend or bring someone home to introduce to his parents. That was also one of the reasons he had avoided family visits.
With a mental sigh, he simply decided he would treat this as taking a day off, one he would use to spend time with his parents.
"Alright. I'll try to visit more often, but there won't be a next time for this kind of situation. No matter what you or Mom say. Do you understand?"
Rilley made it clear that he would not agree to these strange blind-date arrangements. He was certain it had been entirely his mother's idea, and that his father had nothing to do with it.
"Yes… I'll tell her," his father said, not sounding entirely convinced. Then, wanting to change the subject, he continued, "Tell me, how are your investigations going?"
Rilley understood that his father could not make any promises, so he did not insist any further.
"I'm already in the final stage of the project. Soon, GIG's systems will be protected by a powerful management system."
His father looked thoughtful, then asked with evident satisfaction, "Did the keys and code I sent you prove useful?"
Rilley nodded with a serious expression.
"Calling them useful would be an understatement. One could say the foundation of the system is built entirely on those keys and codes. Although I've only studied computer science superficially, even I can tell how extraordinary the code is."
Relly Glass let out a hearty laugh.
"Flattery. I know you're only trying to flatter me," he said, waving his hand from side to side. But the smile on his face was obvious.
Rilley's words were not mere flattery. He had to acknowledge that his father's talent in computer science and programming was comparable to that of a genius. With such knowledge, it was no wonder Relly Glass possessed an artificial intelligence that served as his virtual assistant. Its acronym, «A.R.C.E», stood for «Adaptive Response & Cognitive Engine», and it helped manage several matters within GIG.
However, due to GIG's enormous size and the technological limitations of the available hardware, the AI was limited. Besides, Relly himself did not seem interested in developing or optimizing the software further to make it more powerful with limited hardware.
Over the past few years, Rilley had conducted tests with that assistant AI, which allowed him to realize the enormous potential it could develop as technology improved. From his perspective, the capabilities of that AI were comparable to, or perhaps slightly superior to, the intelligent system «J.A.R.V.I.S», but inferior to other systems such as «H.O.M.E.R» or «F.R.I.D.A.Y», all created by Tony Stark.
Seeing such wasted potential, he spoke with his father about developing it further, not merely limiting it to an assistant AI, but evolving it into a complete intelligent management system for all of GIG. Relly Glass had no intention of doing so. He thought keeping it as a small assistant AI was more than enough, and that they would simply continue using the semi-automatic systems that had managed GIG up to the present day.
Looking toward the future, Rilley knew that this technology was extremely important. He could not simply forget it, much less set it aside after having it so close within reach. At the time, Rilley tried to insist, but Relly continued refusing, arguing that he did not have the space to take charge of research on that scale.
Realizing there was no other path or alternative, Rilley then seriously considered taking charge himself, despite already having his hands full.
Meanwhile, after seeing the importance his son gave to that technology, his father proposed that Rilley himself take charge of the project, and that he could come to him for help whenever he needed it. But to do that, he first had to study.
Although there was no need for him to study computer science and programming as broadly as a full specialist, Relly could provide him with study materials and focus his learning so he could understand the field of artificial intelligence. After all, his son was a genius. Perhaps with his abilities, learning a new field would not be too difficult.
From that moment on, Rilley not only formally studied physics and biochemistry, conducting research and experiments across several ongoing projects, but also supplemented his knowledge through self-study in other fields such as computer science and mechanics.
But Rilley was still an ordinary person, not a genius with an extraordinary brain. There was a limit to what he could carry on his own, and even if he wanted to take on more, it was impossible. In that way, although he could not be considered an expert in those fields the way he could in physics, the other areas served as complements that would, in one way or another, prove beneficial for the future.
Knowing everything he had to study, along with the various investigations and experiments he was carrying out, it was no wonder he had no time to rest and had ended up distancing himself from his family.
Once Rilley had a clear understanding of programming, his father handed him the source code of his assistant AI so he could study it. Once he understood at least a minimally acceptable portion, the two of them would be able to develop the project to improve the intelligent systems.
Rilley not only understood it well enough to meet the minimum standard his father had set, but, using the source code as a foundation and adding certain customizations, he also created his own assistant AI.
Its acronym, «S.O.P.H.I.N», stood for «Scientific Observation, Processing & Heuristic Intelligence Network».
It had been born for the purpose of observing, processing complex information, and detecting patterns in his experiments.