The Real Big Brainy

by Gary D. Snyder

Part 9:

Cindy burst into the auditorium, startling most of the few students that were still present. She immediately saw that the light bulb connected to the reactor was lit up and that Jacques seemed to be calm, almost pleased, with how things were going. As Cindy ran up to him to tell him to shut down the reactor, he heard her approach and looked up. He smiled at her. "Ah, Cindy. Very good. As I suspected, there was a loose wire or two in the control circuits. The reactor is functioning normally."

Slightly breathless from running, Cindy asked, "You've been able to shut it down?"

"Yes, of course. Twice. This is the third time, and as you can see the containment field control is working as expected." Jacques twisted the knob back and forth, causing the bulb to brighten and dim as he did so.

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently her fears had been groundless. "How long has it been running?"

"For 10 minutes this time. Much longer than last time."

I must be losing it, Cindy thought. I was sure that I was right.

"Why did you run here? You have something important to tell me?"

Cindy gave an embarrassed laugh. "Well, I thought that I found something wrong in your notes, but I guess…" Her voice faded away as she stared at the auxiliary power lever, the one that Jacques had used to shut down the reaction before. It was still down. "Jacques," she whispered, "did you remember to shut off the auxiliary power when you ran your tests?"

Surprised, Jacques followed her gaze to the lever and his face went blank as he realized his oversight. With the added power connected he would of course have been able to shut down the reactor, just as he had before. "Yes, apparently, but still –" he began.

"Shut it off," said Cindy urgently. "Shut it off now."

"I am certain that –" Jacques tried again.

"Shut it off now!"

There are some tones that women use that wise men have learned to obey without argument or question. This was one of them. Jacques turned to the reactor and twisted the containment field control dial all the way to the left. The light bulb dimmed considerably but did not quite go out. Cindy's fear changed to terror as she saw the bulb grow slightly brighter as she watched. Jacques noticed it as well and understood the situation all too clearly.

"Is there any other way to stop the reaction?" Cindy asked.

Jacques turned to her, his face drained of all color and his voice barely audible. He sounded like a judge who was reluctantly pronouncing sentence on a condemned criminal. "No. I cannot."

Cindy's voice seemed to come from a thousand miles away but had the conviction of someone who had lived through a hundred impossible escapes. "I know someone who can."

But where is Jimmy? she asked herself. And how can I reach him in time?

Jimmy at that moment was sitting with Goddard on a grassy bank at the edge of the drainage canal near his house. He had always found this a good place when he wanted to think or be alone, and after leaving the auditorium he had come here rather than go home. As always Goddard had managed to track him down and had played the part of a good listener as Jimmy related his woes.

" I don't know, boy," he was saying. "It seems like Retroville has a new genius in town and I'm not really needed any more. I can understand that. It's like Dad says – no matter how smart you are you'll always find someone smarter than you are someday so there's no point in trying to be the top duck in the pond your whole life. But he also says there's no 'I' in 'win' so maybe I don't understand anything he's saying."

Goddard barked in agreement.

"But Cindy!" Jimmy brooded on that. "We've never been very good friends, or close friends, or sometimes even friends, but I never thought she'd do what she did. I can see why she might think that Jacques is interesting and want to spend time with him, but stealing my own energy cell to make me look bad? How much must she really hate me to do that?" He sighed. "And I know that Jacques is interested in her. I mean, she's pretty, and smart, and fun to be with – I mean for a girl and when she's not being a pain – so maybe everything is working out for the best for them. But what am I supposed to do? Goddard – options!"

Goddard's front plate lifted, revealing his video screen. On it appeared the words:

RUN AWAY FROM HOME

Despite his blue mood Jimmy couldn't repress a smile. "I'm not five years old anymore, Goddard. Next?"

The previous message disappeared, to be replaced with:

BUILD A BETTER MOUSE TRAP AND SHOW UP JACQUES

Jimmy shook his head. "That's no good, Goddard. I've already built six, or seven if you count the one the government confiscated. No one seems to be impressed with that sort of thing. Next?"

Again the screen cleared and displayed the new message:

BELIEVE IN YOUR FRIENDS

"Believe in my friends?" Jimmy pondered that. "I don't know if that's really the problem, Goddard. I think it's more like they don't believe in me. Still…maybe that's what I have to believe in. Maybe I have to believe that I still matter to them, even if it seems that I don't. Maybe." He yawned and stretched. "I suppose that we should be heading home for dinner soon, but I guess we can hang around here a little while longer. I kind of want to be alone still. And it's not like anyone needs us right now."

End of Part 9.

Author's Notes:

Although Hugh Neutron never said, "Remember, son, there's no 'I' in 'win'" it sounds exactly like something he would say, and just when he was trying to make a point to Jimmy. Next to Sheen I like writing Jimmy's dad but the story would be way too long if I included him in this one.

The disadvantage about a written story compared to a TV show or movie is that there is no effective way to do a split-screen where simultaneous action can go on. In this chapter I really wanted to Jimmy to question how much he was needed just as Cindy realized how much he was needed. Unfortunately, this is the best I can do. Hopefully it's good enough to tie the story together effectively.