" Leonard Speaking"
' Leonard Thinking'
Warehouse, Washington DC
A rhythmic pounding noise filled the air, as Leonard gasped for breath. He took a couple of deep breaths before he resumed punching a heavy sandbag. The punches flew more and more quickly as Leonard pushed his body to the limit. After ten minutes, Leonard stopped. His frame was drenched in sweat, but his face was stretched in a grin. MedBud, his trusty health companion, stood at his side with his results.
"Good news Sir, you lasted half an hour more than two days ago. This level of improvement is unprecedented. Your stamina has grown by leaps and bounds. You have completely defeated your asthma, and your muscle tone is improving steadily. At your current health standard, you can easily live up to 90 years without any major illness. Considering the stability of your genome and healing, that number will exponentially increase."
Leonard grinned between his gasps. He stumbled towards his chair, picking up a dark cane with a swan head, something he had picked up when his body was recovering from the effects of his experiment. His height had increased to 5'10'', completely messing up his balance for a week or so. But after two weeks, since he improved his genome, the effects he saw were phenomenal. He did not take another Pill, but his brain still ran at that level. Another effect he saw was his control over his body. Previously, despite his high level of intelligence, his body could not support it for too long. Now, he could not only maintain the effect, but also control his own body at tissue level. As he drank a protein shake, he concentrated as the burn in his muscles healed.
Leonard looked at the monitor in front of him and whispered, "Only two days left. I have invited everyone, except Paige."
Leonard quickly sent the invitation before deciding to meet Mike.
MacLaren's Pub, Manhattan, New York
Mike Ross sat in, what was quickly becoming his regular bar, sipping on a glass of bourbon. His past few days were hectic but fulfilling. His defense of Dr. Sofia Vasquez was successful, giving him his first success after leaving his original company. It was even published in some of the smaller newspapers of Pennsylvania, though the involvement of a major company quickly suppressed any major news release. Meanwhile, Sofia, who was acquitted, was staying with him for a while. She sat at his side, drinking a Margarita. As they sat waiting, they heard a clear voice at their side.
"A Gin and Tonic, with a twist of lemon."
Mike's head snapped to the face that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. It was Leonard, but different. His face was symmetrical, with a light stubble and slicked back hair. His eyes still glowed with that light, but now, that light was much brighter. The biggest difference was the physique. Previously, Leonard was 5'5'' in height, now he was 5'11''with a slim but muscular form.
Leonard grinned, "Surprised? Who would have thought that I could still grow."
Mike hurriedly offered his hand. While he did not get how Leonard could grow taller at his age, Leonard would still be his boss. He also introduced Sofia.
"Sofia, this is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. He hired me to get you out. He even gave me that key evidence we needed."
Sofia's eyes teared up at that. The man in front of her was her saviour. At a time when no one stood by her, he helped her prove her innocence and get her freedom back. Leonard smiled assuringly and introduced himself, "Hello Dr. Vasquez. I am Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. Your work in herbal remedies and plant based antivenoms is really visionary."
Sofia awkwardly accepted the compliment. She looked down, as she tried to frame the question that kept bothering her. She started, "While I am not ungrateful for your help, I do wish to ask; what do you want from me?"
Leonard laughed loudly before accepting his cocktail, tiny peals of laughter still escaping him, "Dr. Vasquez, let me ask you something. Did you check the invitation I sent you through Mike?"
Sofia nodded as Leonard continued, "You will get all your answers in the conference. I do not wish to share a lot, as this is neither the time, nor the place for such conversations. Besides, your curiosity will help you integrate well with the others at the conference."
Leonard quickly paid the bill and said, "The conference is in three days. Recover your spirits till then. I'll see you there. Mike, follow me."
Leonard and Mike left the pub, leaving Sofia with her thoughts. Outside the pub, Leonard turned to Mike with a smile, "Congratulations Mike, you have successfully passed your interview. You will now work for me. I offer you a 2 million dollar yearly salary and a position. But first, there is another task that needs your expertise. You will help me register these companies and foundations. I have already marked what needs to be registered first."
Mike nods. Leonard quickly bids him goodbye and leaves.
San Francisco Memorial Hospital, San Francisco
Colonel Giselle Blanco looked at her sister Gina. Her once haggard face brimmed with focus and energy. The past month was a nail biter. She received a huge sum of money from her benefactor that allowed her to treat her daughter's illness. For his task, she got in touch with her contacts within the army; she even expanded to some unsavoury contacts for information and assistance. Using her contacts, she arranged for some people to protect Mike from the shadows and got some guards in the Federal Prison to protect Sofia. Now the two were safe and her task was complete.
With his second payment, Leonard had sent her an invitation to some conference. She was packing her bag for the conference.
Gina asked worriedly, "Is it necessary for you to go? Mary has just been cured. She has been away from her mother for so long. Won't you spend some time with her?"
Giselle, while folding some of her clothes replied absentmindedly, "I would certainly spend time with her, but Boss sent this invitation with the payment. The meaning is clear, he wants me to attend. Maybe after this conference, I can spend some time with Mary."
Gina was annoyed, "What kind of boss doesn't let a mother spend time with her recovering daughter?"
Giselle sighed. She sat down on her bed before looking at her sister, "I would love to blow this off. But I have taken a lot of money from him. The entire treatment cost and Mary's post-op recovery was handled by Boss. Even if I want to stay by Mary's side, I would have lost Mary without him. So, I cannot be so ungrateful as to blow off the second instruction I received from Boss. Besides, the conference would not be so long. A couple of days at most. I will come back before you know it."
Gina was helpless in front of her rhetoric. Giving a soft smile to her sister, she replied, "Then I will take a couple of days off to take care of my niece, you can leave her in my hands."
Giselle questioned, "Won't your boss chew you out for missing work? I remember that you had a company wide meeting soon."
Gina scoffed, "Why would it matter to me? I don't own that company."
The two sisters laughed at that before Gina helped Giselle pack. When her luggage was ready, Giselle quietly approached her daughter's room. Her daughter, weakened by disease, was resting on her bed. She was connected to various monitoring devices, but it was sure that she was cured. Giselle approached her and kissed her brow lightly before whispering, "I will be back before you know it."
Mary sleepily replied, "Love you mom."
Giselle smiled happily before leaving for the airport.
Brooklyn, New York
An awkward young man in a hoody sat on the train to Washington DC. He looked at his phone, the email he received starkly clear as a day. It invited him to a conference in Washington DC. The symbol on the invitation was unfamiliar to him. It made his brain itch in that special spot. He was exceedingly curious about the email, so he hacked the email ID that sent the email. Now, a normal email id can easily be hacked. The protections and encryptions were like child's play for him, but this was different.
The man had spent last night trying to hack into the account. The keyword here is trying. No matter what he did, no attack seemed to phase the systems that protected the ID. The worst part was that the Email wasn't even on the Dark Web. It was like a floater in one's eye. You can follow it but never catch it, especially without taking your own eye out.
The man scrolled his phone. Messages from last night, some from Angela, some from his Boss Gideon. Angela kept reminding him to come to her birthday party next week. Gideon asked for some files.
'Oh how I wish that company would end.'
The worst part was the fact that he was feeling jittery. His morphine withdrawals were happening again. He was feeling that headache, coupled with the sleepless night, was making him antsy. He scratched his arm as he looked at the invitation again.
'Lets see what you are about.'
Princeton University, New Jersey
Dr. Emil Okoye, a famed anthropologist and social activist completed his lecture and applied for a two-day leave. It has been a year since that day in Nigeria, where he had to escape his country and village due to the warlords. A year since he lost all the students he had there. Young minds, filled with wonder, joy and curiosity, snuffed out by robbers and lowlifes. Even as he packed his bag for the conference in Washington DC, bitter tears slipped his eyes when he remembered the doll.
The email he received was not some cookie cutter promotional email. It was personally crafted. It carried that sympathetic tone he had become familiar with over the year he had been living in the USA. But somehow, that email did not seem to be simple platitudes or comforting words. It demanded action. And on a whim, Emil decided to follow that action and see for himself.
Emil quickly packed his luggage and left the University. It took him little time to reach the airport and board his plane. In about an hour, he would be in Washington DC.
Emil leaned back on his seat. His mind wandered to the wording of the email.
'The change will begin…'
Tobin Inn, Boston
Arun Rao woke up in his bed. He had been staying at this inn for a while now. Normally, one would move to a more comfortable room, but this was the closest room he could afford for a long time near MIT. He had tried to reach out to some of his professors, but the results were unsatisfactory. Right now, he was contemplating on the invitation he received a few days back. It was a simple email, but some lines stood out to him.
'We have followed your work on environmental remediation. The world does not deserve men like you — not yet. But we intend to change that'
As a result, he decided to keep his bags packed before making a final attempt at obtaining funds for his research. Still, the prospects were not optimistic.
Arun sighed. Looking around at the messy room with drawings, notes, equations and ideas laying about, he made a final decision.
Arun steeled himself, "Lets see what this conference is all about."
CERN, Geneva
Dr. Paige Swanson rubbed her eyes tiredly as she looked at the board. Her hand ached due to writing equations, her back hunched a little from bending to write in the lower margins for so long. She stretched her back, her bones popping back into place with a satisfying crack as she decided to retire for the night.
She removed her lab coat, hanging it on a stand, and left her office, locking it behind her back. Deciding to skip dinner, she slowly walked to her room, greeting colleagues on her way.
Her room was simplistic, almost spartan in nature. She switched her small desk lamp, before switching on her computer. Making some notes and a plan for tomorrow, she opened her email. Her eyes lit up and a smile unconsciously came to her face as she spied an email sent by Leonard.
She opened the email, her eyes quickly scanning through the email before widening at the invitation for a conference in Washington DC. She contemplated her schedule before quickly agreeing to the invitation. She sent a quick notice to her superior for a leave and started to pack her bag.
Warehouse, Washington DC
Leonard looked at the screen, showing various people, data and secrets. SynthBrain CPU ran quickly, decrypting files, forming connections, and simulating the very aspect of nature itself. Leonard turned away from his screens, slowly walking to a locker, laying his swan head cane against it before withdrawing a M1911 from a hidden holster.
'It is often said, ignorance is bliss. Well, for those who are aware, knowledge can be a nightmare.'
In his research and investigations on exploitative behaviour by conglomerates, he found things that truly sickened him. Human experimentation, espionage, exploitation of local people and natural resources were the least of their crimes. He lost count where massacres took place to further a small goal of obtaining more money. As a disrupter, he was alarmed.
He decided to carry a firearm soon after. He even reached out to one of the victims who was able to take down such a conglomerate with sheer violence. Thankfully, the man was willing to teach him.
Leonard laid down on his small bed, his eyes closed in slight tiredness, which was already melting away as he rested. He needed his four hours of sleep. He could function on less or no sleep at all, but sleep was a comfort that reminded him of his humanity.
Leonard quietly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He smiled before whispering.
"Soon, the world will change. Nothing will ever be the same again."
AN: Thank you for all the support. Next chapter will be a larger one. Keep an eye out.
AN2: I sincerely thank my patrons Darren Burns, Steve Mullen, Haku, Darth Melkor, Matthew Hankins, Nathan, Randomdepressed and TyrantGod for their continued support of my writing.
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