Chapter 16 Intellectual Internet

The events that occur within this next anecdote transpired when I was eight.

The year prior, I had been accepted into multiple...MULTIPLE colleges! That was just...oh man, it was so exciting! Even nowadays, I can't help but look back on my college days with a good amount of nostalgia. Seriously, Junior, I know that you are a crown prince and will take the throne, so I am fully aware that you technically are not required to go to college. But seriously...go to college. It will be more than worth your time. Perhaps not all the bills you have to pay (I still have a mountain I am working through) but definitely worth your time.

The college that I had ultimately decided to go to was Dragonbite University in...well, the town of Dragonbite. I chose that one in particular because I knew that it took academia seriously. It was not a party college in a run-down, messy part of the Kingdom...no, it was THE REAL DEAL! I gladly went there, ready to impress all of my professors as well as my fellow classmates with the knowledge that I had and was going to accumulate.

The class I had been taking that day was Psychology 101. I remember sitting in the front row so that I could see the board, with a notebook sprawled out on the desk in front of me and a pen gripped in my hand. I listened to the lecture intently, for it was fascinating. This was how the brain worked. The koopa brain, the human brain, the goomba brain...sure, there were a few notable differences between the three, but they all shared amazingly eerie similarities. I was soaking up the information like a sponge, the veery definition of engrossed I was.

"Psst."

Even though I heard one of my peers whisper to me, I ignored them. I just jotted down notes in my book. I remember this particular lecture talking about how plastic the brain was. If that was the case, if it was moldable and subject to change...that surely meant that mine would grow! Or, in worst case scenario, shrink.

Oh man. That thought sent shivers down my spine. Surely, it wasn't possible for the brain to shrink. Surely, that was just a stray thought that had occurred to me. Because...if MY brain shrank...my beautiful, fabulous mind….

The shivers increased. I had to stop with my notes as the teacher continued. I just allowed myself to zone out for the rest of the lecture, be absorbed by what was being told to me.

By the time the lecture finished, I went up to my professor with my books in hand. "Excuse me, sir?"

My professor looked up from his notes and smiled. "Ahh, Mr. Koopa! The child prodigy who discovered Galaxium! What can I do for you?"

I let out a breath. "I am inherently concerned about the material that you have covered in your lesson, as great as it may be."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Some might even say that I am more than just concerned; I am downright worried." I adjusted my glasses. "You had said that the brain is plastic, meaning that it has the ability to grow, right?"

The professor leaned against his desk. "Yes. Typically."

I swallowed a lump. "Does...does this mean it also has the ability to shrink?"

The professor chuckled. "It is under rare circumstances, but yes. The brain can lose some of its cognitive function as the parts of it begin to die during dementia. The same thing can also ocurr if the brain is damaged."

My eyes grew wide. "D...damaged?" I shrieked and put my hands to my head, dropping the books in the process. My veins filled to the brim with adrenaline. "How does one prevent such a tragedy from occurring?"

"Do not worry, Mr. Koopa; the brain does not get damaged on its own. Injuries or trauma to the head are typically what do it."

I nodded. Injuries or trauma to the head. Well, I knew of one surefire way to do that.

…

"What's with the helmet?" one of my peers asked me when he passed me in the hallway.

I chuckled and clicked my lips together. "Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, are you aware of anything? This is to prevent me from sustaining injuries to the gray matter resting within my skull."

Dylan blinked. "You're worried about brain damage?" He laughed, hugging his scaly sides. "Uh, why? Unless something falls on your head anytime soon…"

"I am prepared in case something were to occur to me." I tapped my temple. "I do not wish to lose cognitive function." I furrowed by brow. "Now that I think about it, my Psychology professor did warn me about another way of sustaining injury to the brain. What did he call it...dementedia?"

Dylan chuckled again. "Dementia, Iggy, dementia."

"Ah, yes, dementia." I adjusted my glasses. "I am unfamiliar with that term. Can you educate me?"

"Sure." Dylan moved his bright purple hair out of his eyes. "It is a disease in the brain that one naturally gets as they get older. It occurs when the parts of the brain begin to die. Generally, it starts slow; the person will become more forgetful, will misplace things, etc. However, as it progresses along, the function of the brain becomes even more and more limited."

My eyes grew wide. "That...that sounds terrifying!"

Dylan nodded. "My grandfather had it before he passed away five years ago."

My eyes grew even wider. "Died? DIED! You did not say that it could result in death!"

Dylan shrugged. "Well, it is generally terminal…"

I shook my head. "No no no, this won't do. This won't do at all. What if…" I gasped. "What if i contract dementia? What if my brain starts to die! Oh, what will I do?"

"Not worry about it is what you should do," Dylan said. "You still have a long way to go until you're in your seventies."

I blinked. "Seventies? That is when it is generally contracted?" When Dylan nodded his head, I let out a relieved breath. "Oh, good. Very good. You are correct; I still have a long way to go."

So, I went to my next class. Dylan followed me, as we shared the same Algebra professor. I sat in the class, taking notes on the complex equations offered to me. However, while I was taking notes, my mind was elsewhere. I could not cease with thinking about this peculiar disease. Dementia. Even its name was hideous. I did not wish to contract it.

"Psst," Dylan whispered to me. I sighed and turned toward him.

"You did this in Psychology yesterday; it is not a good idea to whisper back and forth during a lecture!"

Dylan just laughed. "I'm paying for these classes; I can do whatever I want during them." He leaned closer. "Do you mind if I look at your notes? I'm a visual learner, and it's hard for me to keep up with the speed of the class sometimes."

I sighed. If it would help out a fellow intellectual, I suppose I might as well. I handed him one of the papers, and he began to transcribe the notes onto a page of his own. Meanwhile, I just paid attention to the lecture on Algebra. At least if I did that, it distracted me from...ugh, dementia.

"You know," Dylan said, snapping me out of my focus. "I wish that there was an easier way for me to study."

I blinked. "You don't find the textbooks to be useful?"

"They're okay. But there more than a little inconvenient, as you have to lug them around everywhere. Plus, trying to find the information can get more than a little annoying, don't you agree?"

I smirked. "I cannot relate, but I will take your word for it." I leaned forward. "Personally, I wish to prevent cognitive decline in my brain. I wish to make it so that I won't die from this 'dementia.""

"Well, there's no guarantee that you'll get it."

"I know. I just wish…" A thought crossed my mind. A crazy thought, a ludicrous thought. However, it caused me to smile regardless.

...

The next night after that was dedicated entirely to tinkering. I borrowed gears from a nearby clock that I had dissected, reshaped metal from various contraptions that I had found all over the campus. I had a goal in mind, and I knew that I had to achieve it. Although I didn't usually use my tinkering skills very often at that point in time, I still knew that I had to make this. If pulled off right, it could prevent me from contract dementia.

It took a metaphorical eternity, but I eventually concluded with my little project. Just in time too; the sun had just started rising outside. I carried my invention with me as I went to class. Dylan passed me in the hallway, and he blinked at my smiling visage.

"Hey. What's going on?" he asked as he made his way over.

I giggled. "I just invented something."

Dylan smiled. "Ooh! You invented something? Man, you really are a child prodigy!" He leaned down close to me. "What did you invent?"

I reached into my hammerspace and fished my invention out. I smiled wide as I showed it to my fellow intellectual. "Ta da!"

Dylan blinked and took the device. "Uh, what is this?"

I grinned. "I call it...the phone. It is a device designed to accept a programmed version of my consciousness into it when I eventually reach my seventies."

Dylan blinked. "You...you're going to put your brain into this thing?"

"My mind, correct." I tapped the button on the front of the device, and the screen lit up.

"Woah!" Dylan held the device at arm's length. "I've never seen something light up like this!"

"I know? Impressive, isn't it?" I took the device back and clicked on a little icon on the screen. "I have programmed all of the knowledge that I have acquired throughout the eight years of my life. When I discover more, I hope that I can add it so that I will be able to keep my mind occupied when it is downloaded into the device."

Dylan took the phone back. He scrolled through the screen, his eyes growing wider and wider. "These...these are your notes!"

"Yes sir, they are."

Dylan grinned. "That is so cool!" He gasped. "Oh my goodness! You can take this phone to class! You can keep all the notes that you take on it! You...you can carry this thing around without needing to break your back!"

I chuckled. "Well, I do not typically break my neck when I carry a textbook..."

Dylan lowered the phone, his eyes sparkling. "Iggy! We need to show this to the professors! This can really turn into something!"

I hesitated. I turned toward Dylan slowly. "But I need to keep a hold of this device. I need to keep a hold of it so that I can download my consciousness onto it."

"True." Dylan beamed. "But imagine if there were more of these! Imagine if they contained the knowledge of all the people on Earth! You'd still be able to accumulate more knowledge than before, even after your mind is in the thing!"

I thought about this. That...that did sound appealing to me, I could not lie.

"You know what, Dylan?" I smiled. "You make a good point." I turned on my heel. "Let's go show this to our professors."

…

"And, then, one thing led to another, and well…" Iggy beamed. "Now, we have the internet."

Junior's eyes grew wide. He fell out of his chair as he stared at Iggy. "Woah woah, what? You're joking!"

"No!" Iggy laughed. "You never heard about how I established the Koopa Kingdom's internet?"

Junior shook his head. "I heard about how you discovered Galaxium, but not the internet." He leaned forward. "Iggy, that's incredible!"

Iggy smirked. "I am aware; thank you." He pulled out his phone and sighed. "I still have Dylan on my contact list. He is in his thirties now; ahs a beautiful wife and kids. I am grateful that I invented the phone, otherwise, I may very well have lost touch with him."

Junior grinned. "I am grateful you invented the phone too. There are so many games I can play on mine!"

Iggy made a face. "Ha. Yes, games. Because that is the most optimal application of cyberspace." He put the phone back. "Well, at the very least, I made life more convenient for people than it was previously." He smiled. "Plus, on top of that, with the help of my reprogrammed internet explorer..." he gestured toward a machine on the other side of the lab. Junior recognized the machine, even though he had never used it. It was the machine that allowed the Koopalings to transport themselves into the internet when Larry accidentally got himself stuck there. "With the help of that machine, I finally made progress into the idea of downloading my consciousness into the internet! I will quite literally be immortalized." he sighed, this time with a smile on his face. "Man, I really captured lighting in a bottle."

"Darn right, you did!" Junior exclaimed. He looked down at his notebook. "Well, looks like I'm out of paper. I'm going to go get a new notebook." He jumped off the chair. "Thanks, Iggy!"

"Anytime, Junior."

With that, Junior exited the lab. He reasoned that he had better fine Wendy. She probably had some notebooks to lend him.