Flowers for Sheldon…"
Summary: Leonard and the gang discover Sheldon has taken advantage of Penny's request for help with her binge drinking to make needed improvements…
Disclaimer: BBT is all Chuck Lorre's…
Part XVI…
"What?..." Penny at whiteboard in Leonard's and Sheldon's apartment eyed the staring Sheldon and Raj…
V-Penny, in holographic form above her Roomba base, staring as well, offering the others' unspoken comment in verbal form… "What the fuck is that?..."
"Guys…And you mind your language, girl…It's a basic derivation of the equation for the synaptic plasticity model taken to the next molecular sublevel…Sheldon?...You must see I'm right here?..."
V-Penny rolling eyes…Mind my holographic butt…Grumble to Raj…
"Hey!...Just record this for further analysis and to play back for Leonard…" Penny, sharply…
"Now…Sheldon?..."
"I see what you're aiming at…" Sheldon, cautiously… "And the formulae seem correct for the model you're dealing with…But…"
"I'm totally lost…" Raj sighed… "I do get the exponential quality of the synaptic modification but I can't see how you do it on the quantum level…"
"Let me walk you through it…" Penny sighed…
Do I really swear so much?...she hissed to Raj…
Well…
Cal Tech…
"All right…MRI scan of the stage five rats' brains indicate no structural anomalies or aberations…" Leonard sums up…Amy and Bernadette, seated in his lab nodding… "While the PETT scans taken during the study show high metabolic activity in these regions of the brains…" he taps at various points on an image on a projector screen… "Amy?...You're up…"
She rises and takes his position by the screen… Pointing…
"We know the serotonin levels are elevated for periods which ties into the food intake since serotonin is produced largely in the intestines…Glutamate is also elevated in the modifiable synapses and GABA is reduced…Which makes logical sense, given the boost in intellectual achievement, if we tie it to the standard theory on the role of modifiable synaptic plasticity…Now, long-term potentiation between neurons we believe is modulated by genes like activin ß-A, which specificially was confirmed as up-regulated in our deceased rodent siblings, leading to clear physical changes in the dentritic spines's cytoskeletal structure…That, along with an increase in receptors at the modifiable synapses, appears to be the really striking change…The dentritic spines have lengthened, which increases the chance of making synaptic contact…And the receptor increase is confirmed by the increased expression of PSD-95 protein…In short, the rats and presumably Howard's new scanner will confirm, Penny, have been rewired for a much faster neural net…And these changes are likely to be long-term…" she eyed the others…
"So…To sum up…" Leonard noted… "You're saying even if we keep Penny from overeating, the changes to this point are likely to remain in place…"
"Unless another event causes a physical downgrade, yes…" Amy nods… "Meaning Sheldon may have achieved his goal…" she beams…
"With what drawbacks?..." Leonard frowns… "We've seen evidence of serotonin overloading…Glutamate toxicity is a possibility…And the increase in synaptic connections theoretically could leave her more vulnerable to prion degradation…Amyloidosis…Etc, etc…"
"Theoretically…But we've seen no evidence of susceptibility as yet…" Amy, a bit anxiously…
"So…This means Penny could be at higher risk for things like Alzheimer's?..." Bernadette cut in…
Leonard eyeing Amy sternly…
"The possibility exists…"Amy sighed… "But we can take preventative steps and monitor…In fact this could in effect be a help to research in the field of Alzheimer and prion disease research…This sort of stimulation and, as necessary, restimulation , could compensate for such effects under certain conditions…"
"Before you start giving your and Sheldon's award speech…" Leonard fumed a bit… "I would point out we've now established that Sheldon did put Penny at risk…Over the long term as well as the short toxic effect…"
"Possible early senility in exchange for a superbrain…Not an easy call…" Bernadette shook her head…Pausing at Leonard's hard stare… "Theoretically of course…"
"She could be perfectly fine, just at a slightly elevated risk…" Amy, cautiously… "Leonard, Sheldon honestly thought…Based on the data…"
"Based on almost no data, you mean…" Leonard, harshly… "He took the first results of your first tests and went right ahead…Amy, this is an ethical nightmare by any sense of the word…"
"She was really in trouble, Leonard…And Sheldon was really concerned…I might note, she's stopped drinking almost completely and the risks from that were surely…"
"That was Penny's call…Not Sheldon's…"
"And Penny took the risk and even now…"
"Penny, unlike your intimate partner, is a kind-hearted and giving person who is willing to overlook the fact that Mad Dr. Cooper took advantage of her ignorance…I'm not so giving…" he glared…
"You know Sheldon said he'd accept it if you feel you have to go the University Ethics Board…" she eyed him… "However…Please, don't…I don't care about my career but…"
"I 'm not going…" he sighed… "It's up to Penny and if she's willing to forgive Sheldon, I won't press the matter, so long as we don't see complications…But she is not a guinea pig and you two are not going to profit from this research…"
"I should think only Howard and Penny are likely to profit…Penny from her new found abilities…Given her holographic system could replace every form of telecommunication now in use…For starters…And Howard from the new scanner she's designed, with his help…Which I'm sure was of great value…" nod to Bernadette who beams…
"You know what I mean, Amy…No paper, not even a commentary on this…"
"Leonard, the research does have applications…Possibly major ones as we've just mutually noted…"
"You can do what you want with your rat work…Cure Alzheimer's and win the Nobel for all I care…" Leonard shrugged… "But not a word about Penny…I don't want her becoming some kind of one-woman freak show…"
Frown… "Penny is my best friend, female, Leonard…And my best friend, period, if I allow Sheldon a different plane of reference owing to the depth of our intimacy…I'd no intention of mentioning her role here unless she asked for credit…And then only as a coresearcher…"
"Sorry…I know all this isn't your fault, Amy…But you shouldn't be having to defend Sheldon on this one…"
"Love means having to defend your mate, Leonard…" Amy, wry smile… "As you are doing, admirably…"
"Remarkable …" Sheldon nodded… "You've demonstrated theoretically the theory of synaptic plasticity at the quantum level and I can't find a flaw in the work at any point…" shaking head…
"Thank you…" Penny beams…
"Go, sis…" V-Penny hoots…
"Of course Amy deserves the credit…She designed the system and worked out the initial neuronal model…" Penny, hastily… "I'm just extrapolating her work…"
"No…" Sheldon shook head again… "This is profoundly deeper…Lord, I have done it again…" he beamed…
"Excuse me…?" Penny, v-Penny in unison…
"Well, the intellectual motor for this brilliant modeling comes from me…" he noted, happily… "Ergo, bravo Dr. Sheldon Cooper…"
"Sheldon…" Raj, glaring… "This is Penny's concept…All you did was violate every ethical standard we've sworn to upload as scientists working in a democratic, human-rights abiding (usually, sometimes) country…"
"Right on, Raj…" v-Penny, nodding… "We are brainy, we are Penny…"
"It's fine…Sheldon, you can be the intellectual motor…" Penny, sighing… "But concede at least I've made good adaptive use of it…"
"Absolutely…And I'll be happy to include you as coauthor…"
"Sheldon…" Raj, grimly… "It's Penny first on that paper or I'll be the one going to the University, not Leonard…"
"Sheldon…" he repeated…Staring coolly…At a pouting Sheldon…
"And I got the video to play back if he needs it…" v-Penny noted…
"Fine…First author…" Sheldon, glaring…
"Sweetie, I don't care…" Penny, shaking head… "I'm just glad you're willing to admit I have some hand in using the tools…"
"Good…" Sheldon beams… "Cause I'd like to put Amy as second author…"
"Only on the theoretical paper regarding this data…" Penny eyed him… "The experimental work and the basic theory for the system …Hers…Or I go to the University…"
"Of course…" Sheldon, nodding.. "I'd never steal Amy's neurobiological thunder…I was only referring to the quantum model…"
"Then we're fine…" Penny, returning nod…
"Right…Lets slap together a conclusion and an abstract and get this puppy to the Journal of Applied Physics…" Sheldon beamed…
"Great…But now you two have settled authorship credit, could we focus on the problem?..." Raj cut in… "As in, will Penny be ok?..."
"Raj, that's sweet…" Penny smiled… Then serious "But that's not the issue at stake here…We're talkin' about a study with potentially great implications in neurodegenerative disease…And about proper allotment of credit…For my bestie…Any personal problems with me don't matter…The need of the many, you know…"
"Oh, not 'Star Trek' references again…." v-Penny sighed…
"Flowers for Sheldon…"
Summary: Leonard and the gang discover Sheldon has taken advantage of Penny's request for help with her binge drinking to make needed improvements…
Disclaimer: BBT is all Chuck Lorre's…
Part XVII…
Penny's apartment…That evening…
Penny sighing at Leonard next to her on sofa…He frowning at the wall…
"Leonard…Sweetie…"
"Enhanced risk for Alzheimer's and other possible prion-related diseases…" Leonard eyed Penny…
"I know, but…"
"There are no buts…And I don't care if the results may help other people someday…" he fumed…
"It's only a possibility…And I knew there could be risks…I wish you wouldn't assume I was too stupid to understand that…I was going downhill fast and I wanted help…I asked for help…Sheldon made me ask…"
"He would…Look, I've already said I won't go to the University as long as you say don't…But if you expect me to let Sheldon off on this one…"
"You can't stay mad at him forever…"
"Watch me…" glare…
"Leonard's absolutely right…" v-Penny, suddenly materializing above her Roomba platform in sweatshirt and shorts…Beaming nod to Leonard…He staring…
"Will you please stop doing that?...We'd like some privacy here…" Penny eyed her counterpart…
"Well, excuse me for artificially living…" glare… "I was left on…"
"I'll remedy that…" Penny grabbed the power cord and pulled…V-Penny shrinking to miniature size…
"Thanks I get for doin' my job…" she grumbled… "But Leonard's still right here…Even if you reprogram me, you Nazi lobsterist…"
"Hey…" Penny glared… "And it's lobotomist…"
"Whatever…I know you deleted some of my files the other day…" v-Penny, accusingly… "Leonard?...Don't let her hurt me again…Please?..."
Ummn…He stared at the appealing tiny face…
"Bye…" Penny pressed the off-switch…Dark glare from v-Penny… "This ain't o…"
"This is getting a little scary…" Leonard shook his head… "You know she turned the heat up this morning while you were asleep and told me it was 'cause she knows I like it warmer…Then she asked me if I'd like her to wear anything 'special'…I think she may be getting a little obsessed with me…"
"Oh, really?...Well, don't worry…I'll fix her…" Penny, coolly…
"You won't…Hurt her?..." he eyed her…
"Leonard?..." she frowned…
"I mean…It's such an amazing breakthrough in artificial intelligence…I wouldn't wanna see it…Hurt…" sheepish tone…
"And she asked me not to let you hurt her…"
"Is this because she's more like the old me?..." Penny frowned… "Are you transferring some resentment over my intellectual gains into sympathy for her as a version of 'old me'?..."
"What?...No…Penny…You saw how she looked at me…How could I not feel a little sorry for her?..." he eyed her stern look back…Smiling…
"Are you…Jealous?..."
Shrug…"Just because I'm superintelligent don't mean I don't kick the butt of any girl trying to move in on my guy, Leonard…Real or AI…I just can do it more efficiently now…" smile… "Besides…" frown… "I know what the bitch is up to…Playing you like a harp…Just the way I…"
Ummn…
"On the other hand, I guess I have succeeded pretty well my first time out in AI…" bright grin…
Frown… "She was wearing that sweatshirt you like, wasn't she?..."
"I didn't ask her to…I just said it looked nice on her…"
Sheldon's and Leonard's (and now provisionally Amy's, pending more formal arrangements as per the "live-in girlfriend" clause of the roommate agreement) apartment…
The remaining gang at supper…Szechuan Palace supplied…
"Sheldon?..."
"Yes…" sigh…
"Since I have no empirical data, I'm falling back on my woman's intuition…A thing I'd never thought possible…" Amy, beam… "But since I never thought I'd become a handsome stud's love kitten…What the hell…Are you upset?..."
"No…" sigh…
"Damn it!..."
Stares…
"Sorry…I didn't mean to make you jump…Either of you…" she eyed the gasping Howard…Bernadette patting him, slight frown to Amy…
Arrhythmia boy here, you know?...
"I'm just disappointed not to hit the emotional bullseye on my first shot..." Amy sighed… "Well, are you sad?..."
"Close enough…"
"Yes!…" Two thumbs up…Move to her mate's side…Head bend to lean against side…
"Is that better?"
"Hmmn…Actually…Yes…" surprised tone…
"Good…Why are you sad?...Is it because of Penny?..."
"Mmmn…Not exactly…"
"Ah, Leonard then…It's always either Penny or Leonard…" regretful tone…
"Au contraire…I've been sad and upset over many people, in fact I spend the bulk of my emotional existence, such as it is, mourning the limited intellectual state of Mankind…" Sheldon eyed her…
"Oh…" sadder tone…
"And you are fishing, Amy Farrah Fowler...You know very well I now spend a good deal of my limited emotional capital on concerns with you…You minx…" narrow-eyed smile…
Returned…
"Howard?..." Bernadette stared, anxious… "Are you all right?...Why are you crying…?"
"I'm…Ok…" he wiped eyes… "I just never believed I'd live to hear Sheldon Cooper make such a profound declaration of love…"
"Though I suppose you are right, here…" Sheldon continued…Slight stare at Howard…Now enfolded in Bernadette's embrace… "It is Leonard I'm mainly sad about…He's still very angry at me…"
"With reason…" Raj, who'd been eyeing the couples as he ate quietly…
I can't live like this anymore, alone in the presence of such devastating coupled happiness…I'll sell the Maserati and use the money to win my gold-digging deaf girl back…Perhaps Mummy and Daddy will die by the time I've cleaned that out or I can hire an Indian actress to stand in as my intended…They'd pay through the nose for that…
"Raj…" Amy frowned…
"No, he's right…" Sheldon sighed… "And even my offer to provide Penny with daily sponge baths should she go ga-ga from prion-related disease in middle-age didn't change his mood…"
"Well, I am sure shocked…" Howard, grinning… "Now if Raj offered to sponge bathe Bernie when she goes senile…"
"Howard…" Bernadette, frowning…
Oh, I must pinch myself…Raj thought…I am surely deep in yet another fantasy…
"Well, that's not going to happen…Especially the sponge bathing…Of Penny, that is…" Amy noted, rather firmly… "What Howard and Bernadette care to indulge in with a third party is their own business, of course…"
Yes, definitely a fantasy…Raj sighed…
"Nor is prion-related disease…At least, it's not likely…We've only established the risk is slightly elevated…"
"That may be true, but I still did wrong…" Sheldon shook his head… "As Meemaw would say, it don't matter if we can't see…God does…"
"Penny's not angry…She accepts she took a risk…She's grateful…" Amy, hastily… "And nothing can be done now except to carefully monitor her…"
"I should go to the University…But…That might get you into trouble…Amy?...How do I put this right?..." mournful tone…
"Sheldon…" Howard shook his head… "As long as Penny is ok, the best thing to do is just as you say, monitor her…We've all done stupid things in Science we regret…"
"That's not a reference to the rumor about our crossing of Ebola with the common cold in my lab…?" Bernadette, anxiously… "I mean, that being just a rumor of course…"
"Leonard once nearly blew up a building with rocket fuel…I won't say what building…" Howard pointed out… "And nearly gave away national security secrets to a North Korea spy…I don't see him riddled with guilt every day…"
"And of course there are your many mishaps…" Raj noted… "From the Mars Rover fiasco to the ISS toilet…"
"Hey, the Rover 'fiasco' as you call it provided possible evidence for bacterial life on Mars…And the ISS thing was a minor glitch…"
"That caused six astronauts to have to be rescued by an emergency Soyuz launch…"
"That was a preventive measure owing to an exceptionally power solar flare…"
"So you say…" Raj, narrowly…
"Yes, well how about your own little accidents…?" Howard frowned…
"What accidents?...I'm in astrophysics where there's nothing I handle that can be broken...It's all in deep outer space, too big to do damage to, and out of my reach…Except the telescopes and monitoring equipment and they're insured…" Raj grinned…
"Guess your foreign sidekick chose the right field, eh?..." smug look…
"Except when you spent six months on grant playing video games and writing emails…With, what were your words?... 'Diddly-squat' to show for your research?..." Howard, smile…
"Oh…Right…" sigh… "Yeah, Sheldon, we've all been there…"
"Comforting as your own many failures may be to me…" Sheldon sighed… "And I would add your falsified data during our disastrous North Polar expedition to the list of your follibles…I still have my own moral issue to resolve here…I have sinned…And I must find some means of atonement…"
"Well, as Penny is my bestie…" Amy began…Scrunching closer… "Lavishing passionate devotion upon me for the rest of our lives would probably be an excellent start…" grin…
"I was planning to do that anyway…" Sheldon, slight smug smile…Extending arm to rub Amy's side…She doing likewise…
"Oh…My…God…" Howard, staring… "Are they actually being…Cute?..."
"As kittens…" Bernadette, beaming…
"Don't panic…" Raj whispered to the stunned Howard watching the two cuddling happily…
"I'm fairly certain this is a fantasy I'm having…"