Two days after Charlie's return, Don called him.
"Have you heard?" Don asked. "There was a plot to have a coup against the Prime Minister of Groen Haven."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
"Why would I?" Charlie asked. "I consulted for Interpol."
"It was stopped in its tracks," Don said.
"I'm sure the Prime Minister of Groen Haven has her own resources to deal with the problem," Charlie remarked drolly.
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Amita's parents left a week later, having, for the most part, enjoyed spending time with their daughter and grandson, whom they adored. Amita gave them literature on Autism.
Amita continued working on her computer project, hoping it could be for helping autistic kids learn interaction skills.. At Charlie's advice, she got a consultant for the project, a clinical psychologist who had a lot of experience working with autistic children. Her name was Dana, and Amita met her though a friend of Larry's.
"This is a very good start," Dana said after testing a part of Amita's program. "Making so that the players have to interact with an AI in order to get to the next part of the game is brilliant!"
"I want to add more levels," Amita said. "So that more kids can use it for more time."
"That's a good strategy," Dana told her. "What do you plan to do with it when you're done?"
"I'm going to get a software license," Amita replied. "That will prevent others from corrupting my work."
"Don't you need to patent it?"
"I can't patent it unless I come up with totally new algorithm, that's never been used," Amita explained.
"I see," Dana nodded.
"I'm going to put up a trial version online," Amita decided. "To expose people to the game, and get feedback."
"Good idea. How much are you going to charge for it?"
"I have thought that far ahead yet," Amita admitted. "I still have a lot of bugs to fix."
"But you sure have done an excellent job," Dana said.
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Amita, and Charlie missed Hugh, whenever he stayed with his mother. Dinner just didn't feel the same without his conversation and jokes about his school day. Suruli sometimes made the sign for 'brother' to ask where Hugh was.
"Is it me," Charlie asked as they got ready for bed, "or is Surli overdue to show us his next project?"
"Charlie, the point of Montessori is for kids to work at their own pace," Amita said.
"The teachers seem pretty hands off."
"That's what we are paying for," Amita reminded him. "It was your idea."
"Suruli gets really absorbed in his playing," Charlie said.
"Why don't you go visit his class and teacher?" Amita suggested.
"I just might," Charlie said. "I was talking to a friend of mine in the biology department, and he said that he had his daughter in Montessori school, but she would read books from the shelf instead of doing her projects."
"Not all Montessori schools are the same," Amita pointed out.
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Charlie talked with the teacher the next day about his concerns, after surprising Suruli, who was working on his project.
"Would you know what percentage of the time he spends playing?" Charlie asked.
"Keeping track would be against the principles of Montessori," Ms. Anderson replied.
"It's just that I am worried that he's going to neglect his projects."
"Dr. Eppes, he's only three," Ms. Anderson said. "He needs time to learn how to balance playing and projects."
Before Charlie could say anything more, he saw, from the corner of his eye, another child bullying Suruli by grabbing the latter's supplies and throwing them on the ground.
With fatherly instincts, he ran to his son, and scolded the bully.
"Leave him alone!" Charlie told the other child, who looked to be about five.
"Thomas! What's going on?" Ms. Anderson demanded. "You will apologize to Suruli right now!"
"Sorry," the boy mumbled.
"Come with me," the teacher grabbed the child's hand.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked Suruli. "If it happens again, tell the teacher. Good thing I came. Show me what you are working on? Maybe I could help you?"
So Suruli and Charlie worked together for a while, not talking, yet bonding as father and son.
TBC