Sparks of Chaos (11 page)

He felt terrible knowing he would never be here long enough to go there with her but he couldn’t tell her the truth. “I would love to be able to go there with you.” He bought her a box of the powdered sugar snowballs for later and each of them a chocolate covered one to eat now. “Maybe each time you eat one of these you’ll think of me.”

He took a bite, and thought they tasted a bit like a round version of a funnel cake that he had at a state fair when he was younger and very tasty. She looked at him and laughed, “You’ve got chocolate on your face.”

“So do you,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her as the little freckles danced across her face.

Chapter 21

Rex walked through the luxurious gardens of his massive estate. He had come to his home to relax because he was having a hard time focusing at his workshop but now that he was here he was bored. He had a huge mansion with extensive ornamental gardens, a large pool and every amenity he could imagine but living in it alone for sixty years had dulled its luster. He actually found himself spending much more of his time in the considerably smaller apartment he kept at his workshop laboratory.

That was why he was looking forward to Professor Hauptmann’s arrival.  That boy Chase had been gone for over five months of island time and he hoped he would wrap up his assignment and get back here with him. Maybe the boy wasn’t so bad after all; he could come in handy to bring his other scientific candidates to the island.

The scientists that he wanted to acquire were almost all older men that he had long admired. Even if the world at large would never fully know of his phenomenal genius at least these men would. They were all men whose opinions of him meant a lot. They would all be impressed with his brilliance and everything that he had been able to achieve. He had to admit it to himself that one of the reasons for bringing them all here was so he could have their approval and validation of his plans. He craved that.

There were definitely flaws with his plans and he knew that. He had his doubts that the biobots process would have much effect on restoring a brain damaged by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. It was great at restoration of the physical body but the brain was something else entirely. Without a copy of the younger healthy brain restoring mental abilities or memories would be close to impossible. It was one of the reasons he had chosen Professor Hauptmann as his first invitee. As one of the oldest on his list and rumors of his mental decline it would provide a good opportunity to experiment.

He could attest that placing an elderly mind into a younger version of its body was jarring but possible. One of his biggest concerns was adaptability. As people aged they tended to become less flexible and more resistant to change. Flexibility was going to be a key to anyone coming to live here. He had a real fear that even the great minds would have a very difficult time accepting all the new concepts involved with being here. The vast majority of scientists did their most creative work when they were younger and original ideas tended to decline as they aged.

His hope was that by collecting all these great minds in one place, he could create the type of environment that would foster the creativity and performance that he desired. He had a firm belief that he could free these world famous scientists of almost all the constraints and restrictions that they were forced to deal with all their careers. There would be no financial constraints; he had the money to fund them with whatever resources they required. They would never be forced to beg for grant money from the government, corporations or wealthy donors. They would have the freedom to work on whatever projects they desired whether they had a quick economic payback or not. They would never have to worry about striving for prizes, the politics involved in working at a university or research laboratory. He was also freeing them from worrying about tenure or having to teach student classes.

His greatest concern was whether they could adapt to a new world created by his discovery of the atomic shift. Could they use the new techniques, materials and possibilities that were available by being able to change sizes of anything? His real fear was the old adage of ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ coming true. Although he was excited to have them join him, he was also apprehensive on how well his idea, that looked good in theory, would actually work in practice.

That was why as a scientist he was open to experimentation, not every theory was correct. You had to try many different formulations until you came upon the one that worked. Oftentimes it was the least likely or something that happened completely by accident. Scientific discovery was littered with accidental discoveries, from penicillin to Teflon and x-rays. Even the microwave oven was uncovered accidently by scientist Percy Spencer while working on radar systems. He noticed a chocolate bar in his pants melted as he walked past a microwave tube and thus the idea was born.

His career had not been filled with that much serendipity but he had to admit that one discovery often had led to another for him. The problem was that, while he had phenomenal success with scientific matters, anything involving people had not gone so well. Being a loner his whole life had not given him the best insight into social interactions. That was why he was so worried about this upcoming experiment involving populating his island paradise.

Getting this right would be one of the most important parts of his overall plan. One of the certainties of science was that anything discovered by one person, could and would be discovered by another eventually. That was his biggest fear. One of his main motivations in establishing this island was to have a haven for science and knowledge if someone else were to discover and reveal his secret in resizing atoms
it could destroy the world as we know it
. He felt he was in a race against time to have everything in place to protect the world from the ensuing disaster it would unleash.

Using all his resources, he kept a serious monitoring in place to uncover if any scientists were working on or were potentially close to making such a discovery. They monitored publications, schools, military research and conferences to closely watch for any developments. Nothing would alert them though to a renegade researcher such as he had been. He was prepared to act quickly and ruthlessly to either co-opt or destroy anything or anyone who could knowingly or unknowingly cause the catastrophe of letting that knowledge out to the world at large.

Rex continued to pace around his gardens. He had built them as a quiet place to rest and reflect upon life but he had been too much on edge waiting for Chase’s return to do much relaxing. There was a lot riding upon the success of the mission and he had often worried if he had placed too much responsibility on such an unproven resource like Chase. Realistically he had been their best and probably only choice for that assignment; he had planned to go himself before his arrival. He had dreaded the prospect of it and seriously doubted he had the social skills necessary for success. Maybe he had been wrong about the boy and his unexpected arrival would prove to be beneficial.

Tapping his wristband, he asked Armstrong “what is the status on the Professor Hauptmann mission?”

“We have been closely monitoring the boy sir. He has stayed inside the city limits near the university. There have been no hits on any of the voice or email traffic coming out of or into the area.”

“Is there any indication on an arrival date here?”

“Not at this time, once either the stasis box or plane is activated we will notify you immediately as we planned.”

“Now that Cheswick has been activated, is he completely prepared to deal with the pairing with Professor Hauptmann upon his arrival?”

“Yes sir, Tedford and I have ensured that he is fully functioning and ready for whenever he gets here.”

“Good, let me know as soon as there is any indication of their impending departure,” Rex said ending the communication. “I just hope it is soon,” he said to himself.

Chapter 22

Today was the day, the day when he would get to meet the Professor and hopefully complete his mission. He was going to meet Birgit at noon outside of the Professor’s office building. He was paid up through the night at the hotel, so he could leave if he could convince the Professor to go with him. He was torn, wanting to complete an important mission that they had entrusted to him. Completion also meant that he wouldn’t see Birgit anymore. What would she think if he just disappeared and never heard from him again? He wasn’t sure how to find a solution that would make everyone happy or if it was even possible.

Looking around the room, he checked to ensure all his possessions were in his backpack and he was leaving nothing behind. If he was unsuccessful he could always come back and pay for additional nights, for now he closed the door and began the walk to meet Birgit. Maybe they would let him come back for a while and be with her. He arrived a few minutes early and waited for her to come down and get him. He was definitely a bit nervous; this was the culmination of what he had been working on all week.

Chase had spent a glorious week with Birgit, having lunch with her every day, a movie, dinners together. He really did like her. It was another lucky break for him that the one person he needed to get to the Professor would end up being a vivacious young girl he’d be attracted to. It had only been a week but they had gotten to know each other quite well. He had no idea what would happen now with her but he was about to find out.

Right on time, she came out the door looking lovely as always. Wearing a white blouse with a pink skirt she ran, happily towards him. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and they walked up to the second floor. Walking to the left side corner, there were two offices with secretary’s desks outside their doors. The first desk belonged to Birgit and the second was empty.

She looked at him and said “I don’t think this is a good idea. This isn’t one of his best days, quite frankly he hasn’t had very many lately. If he starts to get upset, you’ll have to leave. Alright, let’s go in.” She knocked on the door and called out “Professor, your visitor is here; remember I told you my American friend wanted to meet you.” When he didn’t respond, they entered and she introduced him.

The room was lined with many over-filled bookshelves and the books looked old and like they hadn’t been used in some time. The wall behind his desk was crowded with awards and pictures of a much younger version of the Professor. The desk was a big oaken aircraft carrier like piece of furniture. The Professor was sitting behind it and had neither moved nor acknowledged them, looking sunken and small behind the massive desk.

Birgit whispered in Chase’s ear “I am going to leave you alone so I can finish my work and then we can go to lunch when you’re done,” she said walking out and shutting the door.

Knowing he would have to act quickly, Chase said in German “Professor we need to talk about something very important.”

Professor Hauptmann arose, walked over to him and said “
Peter, mein Peter
.” He grabbed Chase’s shoulders with surprising strength. With his bony fingers, it felt like an incredibly strong skeleton was gripping him.

Looking into the Professor’s eyes, Chase was struck by the old saying that ‘the lights are on but nobody’s home.’ Clearly there was something wrong with him. Even though he knew that the Professor spoke fluent English, he thought it wiser to try and reach him in his native German. “Let go, I’m not Peter.”

It seemed to make him even more manic, as he shook him even harder and continued to speak louder now, “
Peter, mein Peter, es tut mir lied
.”

Chase was getting really worried now, Professor Hauptman thought he was someone name Peter and was saying he was sorry. The old man either had Alzheimer’s or senile dementia, so what was he supposed to do now? This scenario wasn’t covered in his briefing. He knew he only had a limited time and would have to make a decision. Think, think, think, and now what was he to do? The more he tried to break free, the harder he held him.

Crying now, The Professor continued to say “
Peter, mein Peter, es tut mir lied, es tut mir sehr lied
.”

He needed to act now and he had very few options. There was simply no chance of being able to convince him to come to the island. He had three choices; to abandon his mission and return home alone, try to come back another day when he might be better or just take him now and leave. He then decided it was now or never, Chase knew he would never get another chance with him. What would they say or do to him if he returned without the Professor? If he brought him back, could they even save him in the condition he was in. There was no more time, he should take him to Surga and let them deal with him back on the island.

“
Es tut mir lied, es tut mir sehr lied, Peter, wo ist mutti
?” the Professor said. He let go of Chase put his hands over his face and was now sobbing in earnest.

He had to act now, the Professor was getting lost in his delusions, he just kept calling him Peter and repeating over and over that he was very sorry and now he was asking where is mommy. He couldn’t even begin to guess what childhood memory this was all about. Now that he had let him go and was distracted, he could focus and decide on a course of action. This was very hard, it looked exciting in action movies but in actual life having to make crucial snap decisions was exceedingly stressful.

That was it, he had decided to grab the Professor, shrink him and take him back now to the island. If he acted fast enough he could just close the door, take Birgit to lunch and hopefully no one would notice he was gone until they got back. Everyone would just assume he had wandered off on his own. Senile old people did that all the time he thought. It would be a mystery all right, one that never got solved. There would be an investigation of course but Birgit would be his alibi. The more he thought it over, the more he was convinced it was a great plan; she would vouch for him that he had walked out of the office and there would be no body to find.