Chapter 34: Education

July 29^th, 2022.

“Gods, it’s beautiful KittyCat!” Clarissa walked around her Device trailing a single fingertip along the Bike’s front curves.

“Thanks, Lissa. We need to register it with the DMV. I scheduled us an appointment tomorrow at 10:00. After that, you can take it to Jakie’s in Tucson for painting. They are expecting you Monday morning and promised to have it done by noon Saturday.

First, let me show you...” lectured the overworked teen about her first public Device that wasn’t a weapon. She had spent countless hours in the past three weeks buried in the workshop along with me guiding her through the more difficult components.

We spent all day yesterday and throughout the night testing without a single spike on any component.

Cat went to bed exhausted but happy just before 4:00. The only reason she was up this early was to help Clarissa get time in the seat and familiarize herself with the controls. That too had been a full day on her feet.

“All I want to do is sleep.” My student mumbled over her lightly seasoned chicken salad at dinner. Even with six hours of day time sleep she was still out of it.

“Go nap, just not too long of a one. Food will wait for you. We don’t want to mess up your rhythm.”

“Too tired to move. Carry me.”

“General?” The increasingly composed Captain entered in the head of DSI’s office with a folder containing numerous photographs.

“What do you have for me today Captain?”

“Two items, sir. The first is that Miss Larkin Made a HoverBike and sold it to her friend for an unknown amount. I am still waiting for the follow-up report so as of now, I only have pictures of both the bike and the woman.” Captain Collinsworth handed the folder to his superior.

“I’ve seen her before. Who is she?” The striking woman in the photographs would stand out in any crowd. Maybe even more than the unique Device itself.

“Her name is Clarissa Leonard. What we have on her is on the last page. She is the woman that was shot outside of the dance club last year along with Miss Larkin. Smith’s interview at the time referred to Miss Leonard as a ‘Superregen’, sheltering her during her recovery in his house. The FBI took it as fact and believed her to be a hidden bodyguard for Miss Larkin. I don’t believe that is the case any longer. We have discovered ties to Leonard of Prague including Larkin’s initial meeting at a charity auction in Vegas over the summer.

“Miss Leonard has been seen frequently visiting the Smith residence, including spending consecutive nights at their residence on frequent occasions. The group is divided on her relationship with Smith and Larkin. Honestly, we don’t have a grasp on their dynamics. We do know she is older than she looks, she’s at least thirty years of age, but that would also be true if she were a strong regen. They all age much slower than the rest of us. We just don’t know and Miss Leonard hasn’t been on our radar since she isn’t a Device maker and she is not in the data base of the Heroes Association.

“Since the only Device she has used up to now was Blue Bomber’s old Hoverboard we just thought she was a friend of Smith’s, maybe even a lover. With Catherine Larkin’s new Device in her possession, we are no longer confident of that.”

“This woman is not Smith’s lover.” He tapped the silver haired woman in the picture. “What else do you have for me on Larkin’s Device?” The General knew more than he was willing to admit to his subordinate. Miss Leonard ... Leonard of Prague. Andrew Jackson withheld his worry while his subordinate was still in the office.

“The HoverBike has decent acceleration, according to the tests, nothing spectacular for a standard motorcycle. We also never saw it clear more than two meters off the ground, it corners a little slowly at higher speeds compared to a high-performance motorcycle. The key is that it does hover, and it’s not one of Smith’s or O’Shannan’s impossible emissionless engines. We believe that her latest Device has Miss Larkin’s unique Magnetic Propulsion similar to what we believe her robot uses.”

“Like her robot. I agree, Captain. Your thoughts?”

“If she decides to sell and market it, she will make another killing. We don’t believe she will though.”

“Why is that?” He agreed but wanted to hear their reasoning.

“Same reason that her robots in production are not equipped with Magnetic levitation. They are designed to run on those roller balls. She isn’t ready to distribute her technology or is unwilling to. She may even be under Smith’s restriction, preventing her from doing that.”

“Assume all three cases are correct, Captain. We know it is electric. I want you to have someone keep an eye on it for the next month. I want real numbers on that thing as soon as you are able.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Our first delivery. God this will take forever. Those things are huge.” We, along with the site foreman, Paul Brown, were inspecting the shipment of three-meter piping of Ti-61 for Cat’s Project along.

“Miss Larkin, when do you expect the coils to be ready?” The fiftyish man in the gray turtle neck asked curiously. He wouldn’t need those for months.

“They are scheduled for a 90 day delay after you have the first section in place. Will you have issues with the timing, Mr. Brown?” She knew that he shouldn’t, but was wary of the inevitable delays.

“None that I can see, but your tolerances are tight. I hope you can deliver your coils like you say you can or we will fall behind.”

“You worry about your part. I have mine under control. Remember, if anyone strange shows up, call security immediately.”

“We have our security. They know what to do.”

“Good. I don’t expect anything in the early stages. It would make no sense for anyone to interfere until we have at least one section up. Master and I will be working on the junctions. There are only eight of the stupid things, but they will probably take forever to make. Remember to call Colleen if you need anything that isn’t an emergency.” She frowned lost in thought. “See you later, Mr. Brown.” Cat took a few steps back and scanned the area again seeing, Clarence’s crew hard at work, still on the first quarter but obviously progressing.

...

“Are you sure you want to take a semester off for this?” Cat worriedly asked her new site manager over lunch.

“Are you kidding? I couldn’t pay to get this type of experience anywhere else. My professor said I could get twelve hours of co-op for this, with a grade, if you include a write up along with my submission.

“Okay, I just don’t want to interfere with your schooling. What about your sorority?”

“No problem there, I am not the first one to take an out of state co-op. I just have to show up for meetings once a month.” Colleen added confidently. “Mark wasn’t happy, but he can always come down and see me since he has only a morning Friday class. Otherwise screw him.” She shrugged carelessly “I like him but we only started dating last month. This is too important to worry about dating games.”

“Thanks, I really need someone to keep an eye on the Extruder. The site will be okay this year. Mostly.”

“Yup, I hired one of my sisters and her uncle to run your little shop. Are you sure you aren’t going to sell any of those coils? We have already received twenty inquiries and no one has started working yet.”

“How?... Grrr. Looks like I need to add more security. If I find out who spilled the beans, I will have his ass in jail for breach of NDA.”

“Let me do that. You gave me the SIPS card and they will be handling security starting Monday. But you could sell those coils for a mint you know.”

“I need too many for my personal use as it is. Besides, that machine is slow and damn expensive to recalibrate.”

“And you have plans for the extras, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I will probably end up making a second Extruder in a couple months but it might not be housed at the same plant. I don’t know.”

“You worry about it being attacked?”

“Not if, when. Too many assholes out there are aiming for me to fail. That leak sets me back.”

“You won’t fail.” The trust was strong with that one... Cat had insisted that we watch Star Wars trilogy the previous evening, on Fast Forward...

“Thanks Collie.” Cat used her friend’s childhood nickname with a soft smile. “Are you calmer now? Do you think you can relax for fifteen minutes for the scan?”

“Yup. I trust you.”

I never would have thought that I needed to reconfigure Calc II to include statistics for business. But it was a small price to pay to get Colleen on board and Cat settled.

...

Watching her friend drive off that Friday morning, “She will be safe, won’t she?” Cat asked/begged.

“You hired Moria’s security for her. There isn’t any more you can do.”

“Still. This whole thing sucks.” Cat looked up at me in worry and frustration, sighing. “It can’t be helped, can it?”

“This is the safest way. We have gone over that.”

“I know. Dean sent over the prelim specs for Boris’ targeting program. Will you take a look later?”

“Sure.”

“GBα series have started production. Even though they are dumb as rocks, the army signed a contract for three thousand of them. I heard that they are going to be trained for bomb demo. If the program works, I promised that I would help them fuse their AIs and combine them into one. I stressed that they needed repetition more than anything. I hope they listen for once,” she thought aloud to me while staring down the empty driveway.

“The ones who will be using them aren’t in the politician class of officers. Trust them to do what is right. Anyone else interested?”

“Tekk will be offering them in its fall catalog. Their Christmas catalog too if there is enough interest. They told me that if I made a pet version, I would sell them out instantly.”

“Will you?”

“Yeah, it’s not hard, except that the dies will be expensive for the stamping plants. Since all the commercial ones will get periodic software upgrades, I am setting up a server that will combine all the AI’s experiences and comb through them. I might even be able to fuse a couple to see how they develop. They won’t be ready for six to eight months. I’m not going to do anything until after the New Year. I need to see how the GBα line turns out.”

“You know I don’t like this, right?” She was talking about the Project. Again.

“I know,” I replied sympathetically.

“Clarissa has over 1100 miles and just under a quarter charge left. Her only complaint is that it can’t do wheelies. Slut. If she breaks my bike, I’ll kill her.”

“I was under the impression that you gifted it to her.”

“I built it. It’s mine, if I say so.”

“Ah, I understand.” I was that way once too.

“She will be home Monday.”

“I heard.

“Moria suggested that I go teach for a semester. I think I am just going to do a couple guest lectures and one seminar. I think you should do a seminar too. I don’t want to be away too long and a seminar we can do in a week each.”

“What will you speak about?”

“Magnetics, since you locked down my quantum. I think you should do something with mechanics or energy fields.”

“Mechanics. They aren’t ready for my Fields.”

“Fine. Gunter wants me to stay with him. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

“Your call.”

“K. I need to meet with a couple people while I am there. I just hope we can do it quietly.”

“There will be plenty of people to see you. They will all be identified, but if you arrange it properly, it will not be an immediate issue.”

“I think so too.” Placing her hand on my chest, “Thanks Master. I need to call Gunter and Helmut and have them make arrangements.”

I watched her walk inside, noting that Colleen did a good job the last two days of keeping her stress levels in check. Cat even spaced her study times out around her friend’s wishes. Her time stress management was improving.

“You called for me, General Mayhew?”

“Larkin and Smith are in Munich for ten days. I want to know everything and everyone they meet.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Katerine.” The aging physicist smiled while speaking in accented Germanic, holding out his hand to his youthful protégé from his wheelchair. Gunter Schmidt’s nurse stood behind him and off to the side.

“Sorry we couldn’t come sooner.” Cat replied, bending over and hugging her friend gently.

“Come in, Smith, you are always welcome in my home.” I shook the dying man’s hand and thanked him for his graciousness, leading Cat inside, and closing the door behind us.

...

“Catherine Larkin, Smith, thank you for accepting our invitation and gracing us with your presence.” Dieter Himmel welcomed his two noteworthy guests with just a few hard consonants and a slight lilt to his English accent.

We took an early Monday morning taxi to the Institute, leaving our host to recover at his home, to be greeted by the Head of the theoretical Physics department.

“Thanks for having us. Gunter said English is fine for the seminar. Is that still alright? I can give it in Germanic if you prefer.” Cat asked somewhat nervously.

“Whichever you are most comfortable with Catherine, May I call you that?”

“That’s fine. I’ll stick with English in the seminar. I’ll give the guest lectures in your native tongue. We were told that you would have an office for each of us and a guide to help familiarize us with the campus.”

“That is correct. Both of you will be assigned a staff for your stay.”

“Sounds good. As for that old man, as long as he has food, he will be fine.” She gave me a grin with a hint of reservation from the implication that our offices would not be adjacent.

...

“I think they split us up intentionally.” Cat complained once the Head left after confirming our temporary offices were acceptable.

“Politics. That and they will want to test you.”

“Yeah, I know. Helmut and Martha will be here at 4:00 to take us out for dinner,” she responded, more worried about our primary mission here than the lectures.

“You will be fine.”

“Jerk.” ‘Easy for you to say.’ “Remember that not everyone is a genius here. Please don’t drown them too much.”

“Isn’t that something I should be saying to you?”

“Har. Di. Har. I’m starved but too nervous to eat. Hopefully they have a decent salad and light soup.”

“No blood sausage and sauerkraut?” I asked opening the door and guiding my student to the café.”

“Not on your life, all billion years of it. Did you see that Lissa’s bike made the cover of Cycle? Black paint with Gold roses and silver stems looks pretty cool. They did a great job detailing it. She even named the stupid thing ‘Rose’ and refers to it as it were alive. She is odd sometimes.”

“This from the ‘Mother’ of Boris?”

“Shut it. I swear I am going to mind wipe him if he keeps it up. I know he does it intentionally, but he doesn’t mean it in any way besides respectfully. How can I do other than accept?”

Well done. “AIs aren’t the only ones who grow in their construction. The programmers need to accept that they are alive at some point.”

“I thought I did. I was wrong.”

“Fraulein Larkin? I am Lars...” We were interrupted by some faculty outside of the café, and he wanted to talk about her bike.

...

“That’s a lovely dress Catherine,” announced Martha when we met up at the restaurant with her husband.

“Thanks. I think this one is my favorite. We still have five minutes before they are ready to seat us.”

“We are going to have words, Miss Catherine Larkin. That hoverbike of yours is incredible. Why will you not sell me one?”

“Me, me, me. Is he like this at home too?” Cat asked depreciatingly to his wife.

“You have no idea dear.”

“Men!” The two women cursed us with a shared smile.

“Clarissa already has had offers of up to fifteen million in the last week. She seems reluctant to part with it,” I noted.

“There is no way she will ever sell ‘Rose’,” Cat said.

“No! Say it isn’t so? That blasted woman went as far as naming it?” Defeated, the grown man pouted, knowing it was now truly a lost cause. No one who ever names something that unique and spectacular would ever part with it.

“Herr Whurer? Your table is ready,” called out an unaccented stout teen in a traditional costume.

“I have the check so move your hand buster,” reaching out with a fork and mock stabbing Helmut’s hand pulling the check to herself. Before we go...” Cat brought out a small box and handed it to her friend. “It didn’t handle miniaturization well, so you need to plug it into a USB on your computer. The specs and instructions are included. You might want to look them over first to see if I missed anything. Test it out on an old spare, a stand-alone, just to be safe. I didn’t have any EU spec computers at home to verify my settings.”

He opened the box and took out the three inch, clear, lightbulb look-a-like Device. “Is this one of your ‘Magnetic Propulsions’?” The senior engineer asked in wonder.

“Yup. As long as you plug it in it will float and glow soft white. Won’t do much else, but I thought it was kinda cool when I was testing it.”

“Wait until you get home dear.” Martha snapped, preventing her gadget loving husband from pulling out his phone. She, at least, had understood Cat’s message.

Cat ended up paying the check, returning her portable Wave Breaker which she never parted with away from home, to her purse, and after a fond farewell we returned to Gunter’s home to discuss our, her, day with the venerable professor emeritus.

...

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, today I will speak of magnetism and its control via machines.” Cat stood on the stage backed by four large whiteboards, faced the audience while standing before the podium with her tablet in place.

“Stop right there, KittyCat,” loudly exclaimed a thin man in the center of the sloped audience with something in his hands causing a commotion. “If you do not come quietly with me, I will detonate explosives killing all of your ‘learned audience’,” he sneered in an Ottoman accent.

“Friggin Octagon. I thought you were all too busy jerking off to the latest Sailor Moom’s panty shot to come here. Master,” she pleaded to me in disgust.

“Ha! Smith can’t stop me, I am prot...” Was all the Maddy could declare before my pitch-black energy field surrounded him knocking those nearby away.

“Seriously, will they never stop? Can you throw that trash away please?” She growled. Not at me, but at the thought of more attacks happening while she was trying to have some fun.

“Sure.” I floated the sphere, along with the chair he sat on and the cement under his feet, up and over the assembled professors who were exclaiming, more to my field than the threats against them.

Grr. “They make me so mad. Anyone else want to try and kidnap me or kill me today? If not, can we get settled and let me start?”

There were a few, very few, chuckles directed at the young lady at the podium, reminding them of their own thwarted daughters or grandchildren. No disrespect was intended from the majority of attendees who were all, with the exception of four, old enough to be her parent at the minimum, great grandfathers and mothers for the six oldest.

Catherine, taking her role seriously, signaled her two GB series robots to begin handing the stacks of prepared notes to the people in the desks in front to pass back after taking one, A whimsical memory of her schooling.

“ ... This here is what we all know of the basic principle equation of the force behind ... When considering the quantum, the bonds ... Let’s take a fifteen-minute break. Save your questions for after please.”

“Heh. Your first day and a halfhearted attempt already. I like your attitude, Kiddo. Keep it up.” Moria O’Shannan commented aloud while listening to the lecture which was broadcast live.

“Herr Smith.” A frowning Bundespolizei Captain stood with her team when I exited the rear of the auditorium with my captive in tow.

“Do you have a body bag? He detonated his explosive when I captured him.” Not that I would admit to detonating it for him. The coward didn’t even have it armed.

I was taken to a dark blue bomb disposal truck, and instructed, in lightly accented English, to deposit ‘him’ in the overlarge trashcan receptacle meant for containing low grade explosives. I released the pureed contents into the container after reducing the diameter of the forcefield.

“I would appreciate it, if you would screen the attendees properly from now on.” I warned the Captain before answering her questions. All of which were pointless at this juncture.

None of the accepted seminar’s attendees were on any known list, even mine, yet one still emerged. I was not happy. There were too many people not doing their jobs fully.

...

An hour later, I retook my seat in the far-right corner and opened up Capes Today to see if anyone emerged that could spark my interest while listening to Cat easily dominate a room full of some of the best physicists on the planet. With a smile at her seriousness, I relaxed.

The briefest of smiles and relaxing of her eyes met my arrival before returning to her explanation. I had my doubts on whether more than a few could adapt to and make use of her lectures, but she believed it was worth the effort.

Today was day one- of the two-part seminar. Thursday would be the conclusion of her six-hours of scheduled lectures, followed each day by an open forum. A new experience for her. I knew from my own experience that it would turn into a Q&A instead of the more casual atmosphere that she had planned on and hoped for.

Wednesday and Friday, we would separate and give guest lectures for small classes of the Institute’s graduate students which would be arranged by the Heads.

I had arranged with Professor Himmel to have the café deliver snacks after the third hour. Cat needed a reminder to pace herself.

...

“Seventy-three minutes.” She sighed, riding in the back of the taxi en route to the restaurant Gunter had recommended.

“Better you than me.”

“It still sucks. Thanks, Master. Although you could have told me that they would mess up my plans.”

“If it were you in the audience, how would you have reacted?”

“Jerk.” ‘Quit being right.’

“Who are we meeting tonight?”

“Ana Brokke.” Seeing my lack of recognition, “She is the Norge Ambassador to the UF”

“I remember now.”

“Michelle Racine sent me a message that she will be a half hour late. Friggin Paris riots.”

“Too many unemployed and not enough education or entrepreneurial drive. The mass of uncontrolled immigration is adding to the pressures. The youth of Franco want the jobs they were promised but the government doesn’t have the funds to indiscriminately hire them.”

“They want what they think they deserve. They aren’t the only ones. The problems are spreading throughout Europe.” Cat snorted in disgust. “They need to work for it. Just like the rest of us. The Federation is as bad, but instead of expecting the government to provide jobs for the youth, they expect free rides while they play their games.” Cat complained about the increase of teenaged unemployment. “There are jobs, just the low paying ones or the dirty ones, which no one wants.”

“How do you think today went?” I asked.

“Besides that Octagon Fuctard, it went pretty well. Jurgen Ula and a couple others seemed to grasp what I was saying. Poor Leslie Saunders was completely lost. She even got mad at Emmerson for loudly rolling his eyes at her stumble. I hope she stays, but it might be hard for her. This is way above her head.”

“She wasn’t the only one.”

“Nah, just the most blatant. Some are researching different theories and will fight tooth and nail for their way to be correct. Even with my obvious success, they will believe that their way can work too. Peter Rendorf did make a compelling argument, though. I might look at his work later.”

“Give him a grant. Same too with the top three to five of the other promising ones. Nothing over a hundred thousand though. Not until they show some progress and make them account for every dime, even if it is a vacation in Rome.”

“UGH, I don’t care how they spend it. There is no way I am reading through their stupid expenses.”

“Hire a service.”

“I can do that. I’m starved.”

...

“Moria offered a five-million-dollar prize for the best solution for hydroponics on her space station. The contestants have two years to get a working model running.” I noted while reading the news during breakfast. Gunter had left to see his doctor an hour ago.

After one day of normal guest lectures, Cat was getting bored already. The students were too far behind and she wasn’t suited to teach. “You will have to rework your lectures.”

“They lied to me. They were all supposed to be doctorial students, not a bunch of pre doc wannabees.” Sighing. “Whose dumb idea was this?”

“Yours.”

“I blame Moria. It was her suggestion.”

“You do realize that it is not they who are deficient, it is you who are too excellent.”

“Like that helps.” Stabbing the banana slice with her fork. Cat groaned. “And they all wonder why I’d rather spend Wednesdays with Moria than anywhere else besides home.”

“You do need downtime. Not everything can be intellectually stimulating.”

“Colleen wants me to go with her to see Tryx at the Willow Center. Like there is anyway in hell I am going to a pop concert with a billion other people. She knows that.”

“Find something else to do with her then.”

“She feels the same way about Shakespeare and the Opera as Rache’s mom did.”

“What else do you both enjoy?”

“We will end up dancing again and chasing off the intruders. We had a blast playing Heroines. It was all silly fun. Even Stacey let loose. Looks like I was wrong. She is sticking with her goal of finishing her degree and joining the Church.”

“Didn’t your other teammate join the HA, fulltime?”

“Kim, yeah. She doesn’t talk to me anymore since I made the cover of Justice. Colleen told me she didn’t make the top five most promising rookies which pissed her off.”

“Those artifacts of yours are limited.”

“You still have mine, right?”

“I do.”

“You said that you didn’t want me to give it to Lin since the HA would pull out if she had powers. Those asses did that anyway. Can I give it to her when we return?”

“Do you think she can handle it?” I thought she could, after her surprising restraint about Cat and her secrets.

“She kept her word. I think we should. I’ll ask dad.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, sir. Miss Larkin has met with seven European ambassadors to the UF, the Kanadian, and one former ambassador from Ausse. All of those meetings were conducted in public, over meals but she had SI’s sound muffler active and Smith carries an Anti-spying Device with him at all times. Lip reading translates identically to the teachers of Charlie Brown movies. I double checked after reviewing the transcriptions.”

“That makes no sense. He has little sense of humor and doesn’t watch TV.”

“It does not fit Miss Larkin either. I believe it’s the influence of a former student.”

“Possible. No idea at all what was discussed during these meetings?”

“Besides the upcoming Devices, none sir.”

“Any idea why she hasn’t spoken with us?”

“I don’t think she likes you General Mayhew. Miss Larkin has been in regular contact with General Jackson instead of going through normal channels.” Risking her opinion, the Intelligence Captain ventured. “Last time she did try and work with the Navy they tried to lock her down and ‘take her inventions’. She is probably pissed off about that and at the very least, reluctant to approach you until she has a more secure position.”

“Smith set us up by not being there when she made her presentation.”

“I am not sure about that, sir. Miss Larkin did stipulate that he would not be available if the Navy came before the fourth. I suspect that the Admiral wanted to try and take advantage of her with him being absent. No one would have expected the extreme reactions on both sides.”

“Killer attack robots will do that.”

“General, I disagree. I believe that Admiral Washington panicked after seeing the potential of her submarine drives.”

“That is not something for you to speculate on, Captain Green.”

“Sorry, Sir.” The fifteen-year Intelligence officer held her peace.

“Looks like I need to contact Smith when he returns. Dismissed, Captain.”

“Would you do it again?”

“Teaching is not for me.”

“Them or anyone?”

“I suppose if I get someone good enough, I might. I don’t see how you do it.”

“I’m more patient than you.” I noted while reading up on the latest Villain gossip while Cat flew us home. As always, it was a great deal more entertaining and honest than the Hero side, which was heavily edited and restricted.