Chapter 24

As pre-arranged, Eitan walked to the young man wearing a bright red jacket with equally bright red sneakers. The contact looked as if he was impatient, glancing at his phone more than once. Eitan introduced himself and the man responded that he was Kavita’s brother.

As they left the platform, Eitan was taken aback by a tall metal frame with an apparatus on top. “They have a metal detector at the train station?”

“It’s a proto-type nano detector,” Arjun said. “Complete waste of money as it’s based on pseudo-science. Seeing the scanner makes the no-no’s happy.”

“Yes, but also punishes innocents,” Eitan said, taking one last glance at the machine. “I don’t think I want to live here anymore.”

Arjun snorted and put his arm on Eitan’s shoulders. “Too late, friend. You have been recruited into the Secret Military Arm of Resistance Tech.”

“SMART?” Eitan asked.

“Yes, SMART: dedicated to stamping out stupidity and pushing the idiotic conspiracy trolls back into their basement trash holes where they belong.”

They climbed into an aged Hyundai subcompact with faded fabric seats. “You’re a hacker’s collective, I presume.”

“The term ‘hacker’ is such an overused and abused term, reserved for folks with adolescent fantasies of computer overlords,” Arjun said. “We are a group of under-employed, under-paid computer specialists saddled with overwhelming student loan debt and lousy credit ratings. We are hungry and angry. We are Rampagers.”

“Who are we rampaging against?” Eitan asked. “Let me guess: the stupid people of the world.”

“There’s an old fart comedian on the History Channel who said it best, ‘You can’t fix stupid,’” Arjun said. “We just want to move the stupid ones with power out of their positions along with the foolish ones with megaphones off of their podiums.”

“Added up, you still have a huge number,” Eitan said, watching the cars zip past in the other lanes. “The national Nano registry bill was a bipartisan bill.”

“All it takes is one election,” Arjun said. “If the Russians can do it, so can we.”

Eitan was not sure which one was further from reality, Mr. Retail Guy or Mr. SMART. Both shared a similar trait of myopia, seeing only a narrow sliver of reality. Arjun was more educated, but his fanaticism was just as discomforting. “Can we stop for breakfast? My treat.”

“This morning you have a breakfast appointment with Auntie,” Arjun said. “No one is permitted to date Kavita without undergoing the interrogation. On the other hand, Auntie is a good cook. When she was younger, she was a chef for the Governor of Tamil-Nadr’s brother-in-law for four years. She is very accomplished.”

“Can’t wait,” Eitan said. His comment was accepted with a bout of laughter from the driver. The car slowly climbed the ramp to the Interstate in the middle of a long chain of cars and trucks. They only drove one exit northward, where two four-story rectangular buildings, each displaying a competing hotel chain sign were situated on both sides of the crossroad. A picket of signs advertised fast food, gas, and convenience stores. Arjun turned into the hotel across the street and drove straight to the back. They walked in through the loading dock, straight past the dumpsters, which were obviously full.

Then they stepped into the kitchen. The aromas of the fresh breads and the mixtures in the pots on top of the lowboy were an introduction to a gourmand’s heaven as Eitan understood it. The spices swirled, making his mouth water. “Forget Kavita,” Eitan said to Arjun, “I want spend my time with the woman who can cook this.”

“He sounds a fickle one,” a woman said, shutting the chiller door. Her accent was thick. “A little bit of food and he is willing to follow another woman sight unseen. He thinks with his stomach; he’s a pig. Kavita does not need a pig when there are many proper suiters from reputable families.”

Eitan looked the middle-aged woman in the face as she carried a metal bowl to the prep table. “Thank you for invitation to breakfast,” Eitan said. “I think I lost my appetite. I’ll find my own way out. Goodbye.”

A hand grabbed his arm. “No, man, it’s not supposed to go down this way,” Arjun said. “Kavita is expecting you.”

“Where is she then?”

“She’s in class,” Arjun said. “We keep everything as normal as possible. She goes to school like she has nothing to worry about out in the world, staying really normal.”

Auntie was waving a big mixing spoon at Eitan, giving him an evil eye. He had no doubt she was gearing up no doubt to blast him with another judgment on his lack as a person. He glanced at Arjun who just looked miserable. Eitan turned back to the woman and squared his shoulders. “Before you speak,” he began in a loud voice, pointing his finger at her, “you had better consider that if I leave, then you will lose Kavita too. She is not a child, and you are not her parent. Choose your words carefully, because these may be the last words that Arjun will report to Kavita before she leaves.”

“Empty threats,” she snarled.

“Then choose your words accordingly,” Eitan said. He struck a pose of serious intent, with his arms folded across his chest. The room was silent except for the burbling of the pots. After a moment of no one speaking, Eitan walked out of the kitchen through the double doors into the dining room. A few diners were still at their tables as a young waitress was slowly making rounds with a carafe in her hand. Eitan took a seat in a corner.

The waitress came over, looking at him expectantly. “I’ll have whatever auntie does not spit on first.”

“Don’t take it personally, you’re a white American degenerate in her world,” the waitress said. “Mother is quite set in her ways and politeness is not her strong point. Let me see what I can get you.”

By the time she returned, Eitan had dug out his tablet and started reading Sten’s article again. She placed two small bowls and a plain dosa in front of him. He offered his thanks before returning to his reading. He tore the bread and scooped the warm food in the bowls. He had no idea what he was eating and at the moment, he did not even care. He stuck his nose deeper in the text.

The paper began by reviewing the state of understanding the relationship between dark matter and dark energy first. The argument then moved on to the relationship between dark matter and the universe that we humans perceive with our senses and our instruments. The last part of the paper was theorizing the relationship between the threads of dark energy that bind dark matter into structures as described by quantum energy physics.