Meeting

That Tuesday Kyle, Jessi and Kanu were at the apartment near the Trager's making Christmas presents. Jessi thought handmade presents were much more meaningful that store-bought presents. Plus the members of the Cheng family had everything money can buy. Nicole had told them they could not spend too much money on buying presents for them.

Jessi was knitting matching hats for every one with their names on them. Kanu was making finger painted Christmas cards for each member of his large family. Kyle was making portraits of each member of the family using pastels and was trying a new technique to make them look more like paintings instead of picture. Jessi and he were going to work on making frames for the pictures.

Jessi had Christmas music going on the radio, and Kanu was humming to it. Jessi said, Kyle how do you think the meeting is going to go? Kyle said, I think it will go well, we can count with the votes of Joseph, Julia, Ann and Stephanie. Hopefully Erik will support us, we just need on more vote. There were two vacant seats and to have a majority they needed 6 votes.

Jessi said, I did not like what we saw at Rita's weapon development facility, and I am sure she only showed us the least dangerous projects.

Kyle said, I think you are right Jessi we will have to research her facilities and connections. I don't know what to think about Ronald Lee, he did not share that much, all we know is that he works with genetics and performs animal research. Then Nate believes he has connections with Grace and Rita.

Jessi said, I don't trust Jacob Rimes, and I don't know what to make out of Ron Maxwell.

Kyle added, I hope Grace doesn't show up at the meeting, I don't think that would go well.

Kanu climbed in to Jessi's arms he wanted to get a feeding. After the feeding Jessi said, Kyle why don't you and Kanu take a shower you both have paint all over. In the mea time I'll get lunch going.

Jessi started making grilled cheese sandwiches and a fresh fruit salad. She got yogurt and orange juice out of the refrigerator. She had to make 14 cheese sandwiches to feed the 3 of them as they all had fast metabolisms.

After lunch Kanu said, I want to take a nap. He was probably the only toddler in the history of humanity who actually knew he was tired.

Kyle told him, it will take us 10 minutes to go to the house of grandma Nicole and granddad Stephen. Do you think you can wait until then? Kanu shook his head affirmatively and they all went to the car. Of course Kanu fell asleep in the car. Kyle placed him in his tub and then Jessi and he left to the meeting after Nicole and Stephen wished them good luck.

Nate was waiting for Jessi and Kyle at the parking lot. The three of them were wearing suits and carrying briefcases. Nate asked, Did you bring your resumes?

Kyle said, we did, did you bring yours?

Nate said, I don't think I'll need it but I brought it anyway.

The three of them went in and again had to wait until the members were in the meeting room to go to the waiting room. Then they were invited to meeting room and seated by the wall in the same seats as the last time.

Jessi took a quick look around the table and was relieved Grace was not there. Michael Cassidy was sitting in for her. The meeting started, budgets were discussed, and they spoke about the most promising students in the Latnok clubs around the nation. After that the members spoke about their current projects.

Rita Lancaster said she was developing a new helmet for the troops that would prevent brain damage in most cases. Jacob Rimes simple said he was working on new software and did not say much more. Ronald Lee said that he and Grace were working on a joint venture to find genes responsible for a few diseases. Joseph said he was working with Madacorp to figure out if the CIR machines could actually be helpful for Alzheimer's. He thanked the trio for their coöperation in that project. Stephanie also thanked them for their help with the joint project of Madacorp, herself and now Ark as a new partner. Erik updated the group about a few projects. Stephanie said her diagnostic company was working on getting a few biomarkers that could be easily measure to diagnose schizophrenia.

The turn of Julia came and she said, I've had the most interesting month of my life, I saw a project going from theory to cell research, to animal research and now a human pilot study. Jessica Emerson and Kyle Trager cognitive abilities are beyond my understanding. I'm happy they invited me to participate in the project with them. I think paralysis due to spinal injuries soon will be a thing of the past.

The group was curious about Julia's statements, but being that she was the youngest member, they thought she did not have the necessary experience to make such a judgment.

Then Joseph said, I believe we have covered all the essential items of the agenda. Why don't we go to the last?

Stephanie said, I second Joseph.

Ronald Lee said, don't you think is premature to get Kyle in to Adam's seat, he is only a teenager. Then why do we need to fill Brian's seat so fast, I think we should look at all the candidates first.

Ann said, Ronald you had your chance to oppose having the vote on the agenda, and you didn't, in fact no one did. If you are against having Kyle and Jessi join the board then vote against it.

Julia said, I agree with Ann, let's all express our opinion with our vote.

That said, Ron Maxwell said, Michael since you are sitting in for Grace, go ahead and start the voting.

Michael said, as the representative of my mother Grace Kingsley, I move to propose Kyle Trager to join the Latnok board. Kyle please hand a copy of your resume to the board members. After the board members finished reviewing Kyle's resume he said. All in favor of Kyle joining the board raise your hand.

The hands of Joseph, Ann, Julia, Stephanie, Erik and Ron Maxwell wet up.

Michael said, the motion stands; Kyle Trager is now a member of the board.

Joseph said, congratulations Kyle, please come and take your sit, we will have a ring made for you.

Kyle took Adams ring from around his neck and said, I would like to wear Adam's ring, if that is acceptable to the board.

Ron Maxwell said, you should Kyle that confirms Adam wanted you to have his sit. Everyone knew what Ron was implying at some point Kyle would become the Latnok Chair, but first they needed to know if he was worthy, and he needed experience.

Michael had Jessi distribute her resume and then said, all in favor of Jessica Emerson joining the Latnok board raise your hands.

The hands that had gone up for Kyle went up again, plus the hand of Kyle and surprisingly the hand of Rita.

Michael again said, the motion stands; Jessica Emerson is now a member of the Latnok board.

Joseph said, congratulations Jessi, please come and take your sit, we will have a ring made for you.

Jessi said, thank you, if you don't mind I rather wear Sarah's ring. Everyone was surprised to see the red Latnok ring that Adam had made especially for Sarah.

Rita said, I think you should Jessi. How did you get that ring?

Jessi said, Kyle found it in the ruins of Zzyzx.

Stephanie said, you should know that you will need to name a representative for when you cannot make it to a meeting. Give the resume of your representative to Rhonda the board secretary to keep in your files.

The meeting ended and all the members including the ones opposed congratulated Kyle and Jessi. Then Joseph introduced them to Rhonda. Rhonda got their contact information and started a file for each one of them. Both choose Nate as their representative and his resume was added to their files.

Before they exited they saw Erik Peterson waiting for them. He approached them and said, I want you to know, that I reviewed the files Latnok kept on you. I am sure much is missing and I am embarrassed to say, I had never reviewed them before. I no longer can call myself a humanitarian after what we did to you. The files were always there for me to review but I never took the time to do it and did nothing to stop the abuse you were subject to. I now understand you reaction at that first meeting. You were right to say that was not a meeting and you certainly acted in self-defense. I am sorry, and I will do what I can to help you change Latnok. If you still want us to cooperate with each other it will be my honor.

Kyle said, thank you Erik, we accept your apology,I hope you accept ours, we would love to work on some projects together. I think Nate would be particularly interested.

Nate smiled at Erik and said, Kyle is right I would like to team with you on some projects, as long as you don't mind working with someone who is not that smart.

Erik laughed and said, you are 21, and despite everything we did to you, you have two doctorates and several patents in your name. I think it will be a pleasure to work with you Dr. Baylin. As you said intelligence is relative to whom you compare yourself too, and compared to you I am not very smart.

Once outside, Nate said, congratulations you are now Latnok board members. That will give you access to much more information. Now you will be able to make a difference in Latnok.

Kyle said, Nate don't forget we are a team, we will make a difference and we'll get you on the board as soon as possible.

The three of them decided to go and celebrate with pizza, they disregarded the looks the other young people gave them as they were overdressed.

While his parents were at the meeting Kanu woke up screaming from his nap. Nicole was there in no time lifting him in her arms right behind her was Lori. Seeing that her mother had things under control she returned to songwriting.

Nicole sat at the glider that they had added to Kyle's room. Kanu snuggled in her arms. After a few minutes he said, grandma am I a good boy? Nicole said, of course you are Kanu. Kanu looked at her with a concerned face that should not be seen on a toddler. He said, then why did they put me in a cage?

Nicole kissed Kanu's head a tear rolling down her cheek. She looked at him and said, Kanu it was not your fault. Bad people put you in there and they should be punished. You are a wonderful little boy and I love you very much. We all love you very much. Never think it was your fault. You are a very good, sweat and smart boy.

Kanu snuggled close to Nicole and then said, when I was in the cage I was always hungry, scared and cold. Did my mommy and daddy know I was there?

Nicole said, The minute they found out you were there they went to get you. They would have never left you in there. None of us knew about you Kanu, we had no way of knowing you were in the cage. Your parents love you very much they will always take care of you. Then she hugged Kanu and rocked him.

Kanu seemed to think about it and then said, grandma I'm hungry. I want a snack.

Nicole carried him over to the kitchen, open the refrigerator and let him pick a snack. He got a tube of yogurt and then said, I'm going to listen to Lori's songs.

Nicole decided she would talk to Kyle and Jessi and let them know what had happened. Kanu would need all the support and love they could give him to get over that traumatic experience. She hated Brian's guts.

After dinner Stephen and Josh took the baby to the park. He enjoyed the swings and the monkey bars. Then Stephen started teaching him how to dribble with a toddler size basketball. They went back home after an hour. Lori insisted on getting Kanu ready for bed, she gave him a snack and juice then a warm bath. After putting his PJ's on, she sat with Kanu on her lap and sang him lullabies until he went to sleep. She had written a lullaby for Kanu, and Kanu insisted on her singing it over and over. She didn't mind she love her little nephew very much and thought that maybe someday in the far future, it would not be that bad to have a kid.

When Kyle and Jessi came back to the Trager's house, they found Nicole ad Stephen waiting for them. They sat to drink tea and Josh and Lori joined them.

Kyle and Jessi updated them on the board meeting and how they were in the Latnok board now. Stephen asked, can you trust the Latnok board members? Kyle said, not yet. Maybe in the future, some of them seem good people.

Jessi said, I think that some of the members are still trying to do what they dreamed of in their youth. Others got lost in their search for power and money. Then there is everything in between.

Over at the Cheng's house Nate was updating Shuang and Adam. After he finished Adam asked, what is your plan?

Nate said, making as many allies as possible and learning as much as possible about all the Latnok activities.

Shuang said, Nate, Adam and I want to help. For now we are planning to buy as many actions as possible from Latnok and Madacorp. If there is another company that you think we should invest in let us know.

Nate had to laugh he said, that is an unusual way of taking over a company and transforming it, specially such large international companies. Since no one expects that tactic, I think it should work very well. We'll keep you posted and keep us posted.

Kyle, Jessi and Kanu were finished making their Christmas presents. Ella offered to babysit Kanu so they could finish his car.

Kyle and Jessi had made the car out of polypropylene that they had modified so the polymers were more organized and connected making it stronger. They used a different catalyst method. The material was stronger than plastic but not as strong as metal, it was also easy to work with, if manipulated under a heating lamp.

They decided to use a lattice battery filled with semi-liquid sugar it could hold 25 times more energy that a regular lithium battery and lasted fifteen times longer. They tough about a nuclear battery/reactor but they would not feel safe with Kanu driving that type of car. They build a small motor and limited the speed to 5 miles per hour, of course the car of Kanu had solar panels on it.

When they finish building the car, Kyle got behind Jessi, put an arm around her waist and started kissing her neck. After a while Jessi started kissing Kyle's neck, and then had him lay down on the floor, pulled his shirt off and proceeded to kiss his back and then his chest. Kyle loved the electric feeling of the kisses it was stimulating. With a rapid move Kyle grabbed Jessi, and started kissing her lips. After that he pulled her blouse off, and started kissing her upper body. Suddenly they heard the voice of Declan through the speaker system saying, Guys you are on the surveillance cameras. Good thing it's me back here today and not someone else. Kyle laughed the romantic moment ruined. Jessi hurried up to put her blouse on and said, Declan you are a pervert! Declan chuckled and said, I'm only doing my job, you could have disabled the cameras or something. If not keep it G rated, really!

While they were making the car, Kanu was with Ella and Luca. The first thing they did was drop Luca off at physical therapy, they would pick him up in three hours. Ell decided to take Kanu to the children's museum. There Kanu had an opportunity to build bridges out of blocks and play with other children his age. He found out that the toddler section was not that interesting and the other kids could barely babble a few words. He pulled on Ella's arm and Ella lifted him up. He said in a low voice, what's wrong with this baby's? Ella said, mmm… I don't think there is nothing wrong with them. Kanu said, okay. Then he jumped out of Ella's arms and went to try to play with them, but they did not know what to do when he threw a ball to them. When he approached a little girl who was holding a doll, she looked at him and said "mine". Kanu pulled on Ella's arm again and said, Aunt Ella, I really think there is something wrong with this kids. Ella decided to walk out of the toddler room as the mothers were starting to give them angry looks. Then she asked, what do you mean Kanu? Kanu said, they are my size, and they look my age, but they don't know how to talk, they just babble. They don't know how to play with other kids. What's wrong with them? Ella smiled at him and said, they are not as smart as you Kanu. Kanu looked at her with innocent eyes and said, do you think my mommy and daddy could help them so they don't have to be so dumb?

Ella laughed and hoped none of the mothers heard Kanu. She then told him, maybe, now why don't we go to the wind machine and learn how hurricanes happen. After that they went to the light exhibit and Ella had to answer all the questions that Kanu had, good thing she was getting a master's in physics. But then when the mascot of the museum came around to greet to the children Kanu jumped in to her arms and said, I don't like owls, can we leave? Ella laughed internally, her nephew went from asking questions about the visible light spectrum, convection and refraction to just being a normal toddler, she kissed his head and they went to pick Luca.

They entered the PT room and found Luca crawling to strengthen his muscles and improve his coordination. Kanu decided to join him. He said, Luca what game are you playing? Luca smile at him and said, I'm pretending I'm a baby. A few minutes later the physical therapist said, enough for now. Luca looked at Ella and said, I need to take a shower it won't take me that long. Ella said, take your time there is no rush.

Ella took her phone out pushed on the Kindle app, then found a children's book she had recently purchased and started reading to Kanu. Kanu said, aunty I like it when you point to the words you are reading. Ella started pointing at the words as she read. She wondered if that was the right thing to do, Kanu was too young to learn how to read. Would that increase the gap between him and other children his age? She thought, the gap was already very large, being able to read will not enlarge the gap much.

Luca came out after taking a shower and getting dressed. He was using a walker and walked towards Ella to kiss her. He was able to walk short distances now, but still needed the electric wheelchair for long distances. He was progressing very fast since he got the regenerative fluid IV shoots. He was also very dedicated and went to PT twice a day for a total of six hours and then exercised at home for another couple of hours just as instructed.

Once in the car Ella said, hey Kanu want to go and eat lunch at Chuck E. Cheese? Kanu said, yes, but I don't want to play with the rat. Ella said, okay no rat then. Luca loved to watch Ella and Kanu interact, she would be an amazing mother someday, and hopefully her children would be his too.

Kanu was playing at Chuck E. Cheese and Ella and Luca were sitting at a table watching him play. Ella occasionally went and snapped a picture or helped Kanu. She said, hey, you are doing great; you'll be walking by yourself soon. Luca said, you are right, I'm getting stronger each day. Ella I have contacted UW to see if I can start in the spring semester, they agreed to hold my spot for 2 years after the accident. I of course lost the scholarship, but I have contacted workmen's compensation and they are offering me a cash settlement, that should pay for me to go to school for at least four years.

Ella said, great you will love the physics department. Luca looked at her and said, Ella you know being paralyzed and now being able to move, feel and walk again has changed the way I look at the world, and if it is okay with you, I was actually thinking about becoming a physical therapist.

Ella thought about it reached for one of his hands and said, Luca, I just want you'r happiness, and if becoming a physical therapist is going to make you happy, then I am all for it. Luca kissed her hand and said, thank you. It seems I will have to do 2 years to get the Bachelor's degree in PT and then 2 more for the master and another 2 for the doctorate. Ella said, what's the rush? As long as we are together who cares how long it takes. Then they leaned forward and kissed across the table. The pizza came and Kanu joined them. He had a healthy appetite and ended up eating four slices of pizza. Luca wondered how a toddler could eat so much without getting sick.

After Chuck E. Cheeses they went back to the penthouse where Kyle and Jessi said they would be picking Kanu up. He fell asleep in the car and Ella carried him in and then sat with him at one of the rocking recliners. Luca sat near them and asked, Ella why is it that Kanu does not sleep in a crib? Ella said, Luca there are many things we need to talk about, that I want to tell you. Most of them I have learned recently and I don't want to keep secrets from you. I don't think this will make much sense to you now, but I'll explain tonight. Kanu is scared of cribs because he was kept in a cage, before Kyle and Jessi rescued him. Luca thought Ella was right, it made no sense to him, why would someone keep a baby in a cage?

Luca left for PT, the van was still picking him up but soon he would be able to drive. Kyle and Jessi came to pick Kanu up. Jessi said, thank you Ella, I hope Kanu was not too much trouble. Ella said, not at all he is a wonderful little boy; we had a lot of fun together. Ella got permission from them to tell the family history to Luca and then asked Nate by phone and he agreed. She did not think she needed to ask her mom and dad. It was still new to think of Adam as her dad but she liked it. Before leaving Kyle asked, is Adam Jr, around? Ella responded, no, he is spending a lot of time at mom's solar farms helping with the transition to the new panels, and when he is not doing that he is busy with school.

In a different part of town, Michael was talking to Mark. He said, okay then is decided that will be the best time to strike.

The next morning Adam and Shuang were drinking their coffee, still wearing their pajamas and in their robes. They were monitoring the stock market to buy at the best price possible. Adam said, there has to be some type of mistake. Nate came in to the living room running and said, I don't know what is going on, but my stock alert went off on my phone. Shuang looked at the computer monitor and said, what is happening is very unusual, I wonder what is going on? Nate said, let me get Kyle and Jessi and see what they think.

A half hour later the five of them and George were busy buying stock. They alerted the Trager's who decided to invest their retirement savings and the college fund for Lori and Josh. Josh heard about it and decided to invest the 500 dollars he had saved to visit Andy. He did not need that money anymore. Lori had a thousand dollars in savings.

Cassidy woke up like any other day and went to check on the stocks of the companies his mother owned. He discover that two of them had lost over seventy-five percent of their value overnight one was an importing and exporting company and the other one was a software company. It was a disaster; he did not know what to do. He called Nate but it went in to voice mail. Just when he thought things could not get worse, he saw that the stock of the Congo Company had plummeted to less than one cent per share. Then he realized his computer had sold all the shares him and his mother had, he now remembered asking Nate to set alerts to sell if the stock went below a certain point. He should have asked more questions of what that meant. Four hours later Nate would show up and help Mike secure the stock of the other companies he owned.

Over at the Cheng's house, Ark had acquired thirty percent of the shares in the software company and Shuang bought another thirty percent. Adam had bought 35 percent of the shares of the importing company and ten percent of the Latnok shares. Shuang had bought 25 percent of the Madacorp shares, and ten percent of the Latnok shares.

After the buying frenzy they went to have breakfast. Adam said, this is very strange, Latnok has not had any shares for sale in decades, and Madacorp in at least the past five years. Shuang said, it almost seems as if someone is orchestrating this.

Kyle said, if someone is doing this, they would need an extremely powerful computer and intelligence similar to that of me and Jessi. I don't thing no one is behind this.

Jessi said, I just hope is not someone from the Latnok board. That would mean they have someone else in a pod.

Nate said, we are just going to have to wait and see.

I appreciate the review of Will and fin. I will see this story to the end.

Please review it keeps me going.