Since it wasn't Saturday, breakfast at the Trager house involved everyone sitting around the kitchen table eating their chosen breakfast. Some chose cereal, some toast. Kyle was eating his favorite fruity cereal.
Josh finished his juice and commented, "I'm going to The Rack this morning, I volunteered to work the morning shift today."
"No G-Force?" Stephen asked. "Is Andy still unavailable?"
"They're in transit," Josh said. "They won't arrive in Seattle until next week at the earliest."
"Is she going to be back in time for the spring semester to start?" Nicole asked.
"She might miss the first couple of days," Josh said. "But that's the goal. She and Faith are driving cross country. Summer has flown back to get her department started." He shrugged, "I guess her new boss is really anxious to get going."
"Time is money, Josh," Kyle said, earning a 'look' from Nicole.
"Robin Benson wants me to come down to the agency this morning to sign the representation agreement," Lori said. "Can you come and check it out for me, Kyle?"
"I'll be glad to," Kyle agreed.
Nicole suggested, "Your father should probably go with you as well."
"Could you, Dad?" Lori asked.
Stephen nodded, "Sure, I don't have anything I need to do at UDub today. We haven't started our spring semester either."
"Do you want to come with us, Jessi?" Kyle asked.
Jessi said, "I want to go to the Kesdet office and check on our project. The construction of the lattice should be done late this morning according to the diagnostics."
"Then I'll go with Lori and Stephen," Kyle said. "If the assembly finishes and you want me to help test it, they can drop me off after we get Lori's papers signed."
Stephen looked puzzled. "What is this 'assembly' you are talking about? It sounds like an automated process."
"Our device depends upon a lattice of atoms of several different elements built into a precise structure," Jessi explained. "We are using lasers to track atoms and electric and magnetic fields to place the individual atoms into the proper spot in the lattice. The whole process has to be automated, of course."
"You're assembling something with individual atoms?" Stephen asked incredulous.
"In practice we are doing it in waves," Jessi said. "The peaks and troughs of the interference of the electrical signals cause wave patterns that attract the atoms being deposited in a programmed pattern."
Stephen looked at Nicole, "I used to think I was an intelligent, technologically savvy person. It looks like my role for this morning is to be the chauffer for the trip to the agency and watch Kyle read contracts."
"Don't feel bad, Stephen," Nicole said. "I have a doctorate in psychology and my contribution will be washing this morning's dishes."
"You both help a lot," Kyle reassured them. "We couldn't do this without you."
"Don't worry, Kyle," Nicole smiled. "We're just joking. We find it all really exciting."
"So do we," Kyle said, glancing at Jessi who smiled back at him. He dumped the rest of his sour patch kids packet into his fruity cereal and began scooping it up.