AN: Okay, this is very much OC for those of you who knows your Chicago Med characters but I fell in love with the entrepreneur Jack Dayton the first episode I saw him (I also ended up watching the entire fantasy-show Grimm). I'm going to try and follow up every episode throughout season 8 with a story of my own. I don't know if I'll succeed. Some dialogue from the actual episodes is necessary to tie the knot here so bear with me.

OOOOOO

Chicago Med

The Jack Dayton Chronicles

1

Zero Hour

Jack awoke an hour before the alarm on his phone was set to go off. Adrenaline was already coursing through his body whether he wanted it to or not. He wouldn't say he was nervous, jittery might have been a better word. He'd been waiting for this day ever since the idea popped up in his head. It was almost seven years ago now since he'd been standing in Tokyo, mesmerized by the Maglevs themselves and with the efficiency which they took people to pretty faraway places within record time.

The US was lagging behind when it came to cost effective and efficient transportation of common people. Sure, there were concepts in the making, sparsely tested because of logistical problems and shortage in material production but there was nothing on the market. Back in his hometown Chicago the streets were crowded and the time it took from A to B on a regular day could be agonizingly long. He thought to himself. 'What if he could change all that?'

Not that he was really in to transportation. His main field was computer programming. How to use metadata to optimize products and to analyze various things in various fields. However, one could surely branch out a little. He was intrigued by the connection and partnering between man and machine; he had always been that way. Besides, if he could suboptimize an old subway system and use it to transport people faster with similar technology as Maglev in one city others would follow and he would be able to finance his investment big time.

Jack grew up in a middle-class family. He had what he needed; food on the table, a roof over his head and some money to spare each month. He was a fairly regular guy - except for maybe his height - Jack was roughly 195 centimeters long. He had always been a head longer than the other kids and teens and that made him an easy prey for the school's basket coach who managed to coax him into joining the team at a very young age. It turned out he had some talent for the game and he liked it; got good friends there. More importantly, he got friends who didn't think his height was abnormal and didn't taunt him for being the way he was.

However, Jack had never liked doing the same thing over and over again. He loved science in school; wanted to know how things worked. When the scientific experiments blew up in his face, he wanted to know why. When he was around fifteen of age the computers really began to make themselves known to man; it wasn't just the military or the big and old institutions with money who had one that covered the entire floor anymore.

He found it intriguing that this machine had the potential of becoming such an asset in modern day life. It was an entirely different language talking to the machine than talking to humans but he wasn't slow on the uptake and learned pretty quick. He discovered that the machine was a fast learner too if he managed to do his part right.

His parents hadn't been overly thrilled of course when the active, sporting type of guy took to his room or the basement with an object no bigger than a cartoon box which they didn't see any potential in but they didn't stop him. At first the computer programming was something he did because he found it interesting but then the young mind of an aspiring engineer began to really understand the true potential it could develop into if society came along for the ride.

Jack left the computer for months, even a year, when his basketball career peaked and he won the series with his team. That year he even won the prize for the best basket player of the year in his age. He got a scholarship and moved to LA for a while, enjoying the sunny way of life at the coast.

However, fate threw him a curveball as he and a couple of friends got into a car accident on the Interstate. It was a violent crash resulting in two deaths, one paralysis and two severe injuries. He would never forget that day for as long as he lived. He would never forget waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by all kinds of machinery and see the dejected faces around him. He had tried to ask about his friends but no one wanted to give him a straight answer; they just told him to rest and get his strength back.

The doctors told him it was important that he didn't move because he'd hurt his spine. Jack didn't have any intention of moving around anyway because of all the pains and aches that flared up every time he even thought about doing so. Over the next couple of days, he learned he and the other guy, Freddie, who'd been seated in the back, were two only survivors of the crash. However, unlike Jack himself, Freddie would never be able to walk again. His own recovery would be no walk in the park either and he could forget playing basketball for at least six months.

Afterwards, when looking back upon it, he would say this was the moment Jack 2.0 was born. There he was, trapped in a hospital bed, with back pains, while some of his best friends didn't make it. His mind insisting on flashing him images of the accident and his doctors claiming he had developed PTSD. On top of that, his basket contract was recalled and he was back to square one. He could have chosen to spiral down into a depression, feeling sorry for himself but Jack wasn't like that; it wasn't in his personality to simply give up. Realizing he would most likely never be able to play basketball at top level again due to his injuries he gave in to his other passion; engineering. Four years later he graduated top of his class with a Master's degree done in record time in Advanced Engineering.

Since personal computers arrived at the market for everyone to buy during the eighties when Jack was a teen and he quickly learned how to code things. He used that skill together with his toolbox he'd created for himself during his higher education and skillfully combined engineering and computer coding for his own benefits. However, there was so much he wanted to do, so much he wanted to improve in the world, that he didn't know in what field to concentrate. He wanted to revolutionize transportation, he wanted to study the integration between men and machine and he wanted to contribute to changes in the building industry as well as human care.

Starting almost emptyhanded Jack managed to get a foot into the building industry, not in terms of a tech guru, but by investing the little capital he'd managed to get his hands on. He played his cards well and the more income he got, the more he could branch out. He bought a tech company and found friends with similar mindsets who were quick to accept his ideas. Throughout the years that followed he worked day and night to found what was to become the Dayton Corporation which held a portfolio of smaller business that branched out in various areas of commerce such as the transportation sector and the field of biotechnology.

Jack rose to fame within the business, he became someone people talked about. He was known for his investments and good deeds. Some called his ideas a bit far-fetched and crazy while others called them ingenious. While he had succeeded in the making of transforming most of his ideas from the drawing table to the real world, he had also failed a lot of times.

He jumped slightly as the alarm set off next to him and he reached for his phone to turn it off. He hadn't meant to think back upon his journey to become the man he now was. He used to say to others that it was of no use to look back upon what had happened. Logically, what was in the past could never be changed, the only thing that mattered was today and what it could contribute to regarding the future.

He sighed as he sat up in bed, then closed his eyes again briefly while carefully stretching his neck, reaching up to gently massage his aching shoulders. Today was the day the Dayton Corporation's Hypertrain would roam the tunnels of Chicago's public transportation instead of the slow and outdated L-train. Today was the day he would show Chicago, the US and - maybe even the whole world - that a new modern train could be easily fitted into an existing system of rails and an older version of communication technology and efficiently transport the citizens throughout several miles of tunnels in the blink of an eye.

Jack and his team had been working for years to get everything ready, the road had been long from getting all the permits required to having several inspections made to the existing tunnel system and to analyze how fast the train could travel without endangering its passengers. They had worked with the mayor's office, they had been promoting the revolutionized way of travel hard for the last six months to gain the people's interest and they had worked closely with the department of transportation. They'd offered their help to upgrade the software used for the signaling system and coordinated their efforts with the L-train operator so that they would intrude as little as possible while the Hypertrain was in development. Unfortunately, Jack hadn't been as present as he would have liked during the latest year because of other projects that demanded his attention; that was perhaps the backside of being involved in many things at the same time, in different areas of the world. He was, after all, the CEO of the Dayton Corporation and as such he had to attend a lot of meetings across the country and also across the borders of the US.

As thoughts of various things competed for his attention, Jack Dayton slowly got out of bed and worked out the kinks of his back. He strolled across the large bedroom and into the adjoining luxurious bathroom to put the shower on. He let the water soak his skin, it was so hot that it almost burned but he didn't mind, in fact that was exactly as he wanted it. He found it soothing as it forced stiff muscles to relax. His morning routine was almost purely automatic, showering, shaving, combing his hair while his mind was occupied with other things. He glanced in the mirror, satisfied with his looks as he walked out of the bathroom and headed for the large walk-in closet to dress for the occasion that awaited him. Jack smirked as he glanced down the row of business suits and shirts, silently wondering which one he should choose. He settled for a deep grey suit and a light blue shirt then added a little color using an orange tie. By the time he was ready to step outside the door to his house his assistants were standing next to a large black sedan on the driveway.

"Good morning, Jack," Kathleen beamed at him. "I hope you've slept well."

Dayton nodded at his secretary, his lips curling slightly upwards. He avoided answering the question by simply saying "Good morning, Kathleen," before turning to his other assistant. "Dennis."

"Sir," the short Asian man replied with a tight smile. "Everything is ready. Nathaniel is so excited he doesn't know which foot to stand on."

Jack laughed as he got into the back of the car, Dennis slipping in beside him while Kathleen jumped into the front passenger seat.

"The police has sealed off the area we talked about, the train is slowly powering up, media is in place and everyone is intrigued," Dennis said brightly. "We have a big day ahead of us."

"Yeah, it's finally happening," Jack replied as he reached for his tie, unconsciously loosening it a little, feeling the pressure of giving a flawless performance in front of the media.

OOOOOO

The Chief of Emergency Medicine, Doctor Dean Archer, cursed under his breath as the line came to a complete stop. He was sitting on the highway, boxed in, as he was currently in the middle line of the three files the road was made up of. There were cars all around him, some drivers took to the horn in frustration. That was all Dean needed. He sighed, closed his eyes and let his head fall forwards to meet his hands. He let it rest there for a moment then ran his hands through his hair as he leaned backwards and let his neck come to rest against the plush leather seat in his BMW. Patience was not his virtue; it had never been.

He drummed impatient fingers against the steering wheel, not sure what else to do as the eight o'clock news came onto the radio. He raised the volume on the radio with a quick push of his thumb against a button on his steering wheel and muttered something indistinguishable as the reporter chirpily began talking about the new Hypertrain. Dean's mood turned sour, the Hypertrain was the source of his troubles this morning. It was all Jack Dayton's damn fault that he couldn't get to work on time as the road was all jammed up. The police had closed off several sections within the city as a precaution while the new shiny train roamed the old tunnels and rail stretches above ground between High Water and Bellman – a stretch that so happened to pass nearby Gaffney Medical Center where he worked. Dean glared at the display as he heard the voice of the entrepreneur behind the whole circus.

"I can tell you we have been preparing for this a very long time now. This Hypertrain is the product of hard work, technical ingenuities and a lot of collaborations all across the city."

"It looks beautiful, Mr. Dayton, but are you sure it will turn out to be such a revolution as you want us to believe?" the young female reporter asked.

"Give it a few weeks and you're going to love it," he said smartly. "Then you're going to wonder why this was implemented sooner."

Archer huffed at the mix of cockiness and arrogance he read into the entrepreneur's voice. "The higher they aim the harder they fall," he muttered and switched to classical music with a light touch of his finger.

OOOOOO

Nathaniel Perry gently touched the displays in front of him as if they were made of glass. He then let his eyes roam over the computer screens mounted into the top panels in the conductors department. It felt unreal to finally stand inside the large train. He had been a member of the small team that developed the technical interface and signaling system to make sure the train stayed on the track at all times. He had taken part in developing the AI which was supposed to be the mastermind of the Hypertrain; the brain from which the vehicle was effectively and efficiently optimized for best comfort for the passengers. To see this technical marvel for real, knowing that it was no longer a simulation, was making his knees grow weak with both pride and joy. He'd been writing code day and night the last few weeks just to make sure he'd caught all the bugs in the system.

"Nathaniel," Jack greeted with a bright smile as he stepped through the doors with a flock of news reporters behind him.

The younger man managed a nod at them and forced a smile. He would never get used to the limelight the way Jack was. He breathed a sigh of relief as Jack guided them through the different compartments of the train like a true professional, leaving Nathaniel behind in the conductors department. Nathaniel was proud to be working for Dayton, his boss had the looks as well as the technical mastermind. Now, that combined with an easygoing persona and previous experience with the media made him perfect in the role of tour guide and promotor for this new invention.

He waited patiently for the clock to turn nine hundred hours. That was the commenced and communicated time when the Hypertrain was scheduled to leave the platform and take off for the first time.

OOOOOO

Doctor Crockett Marcel crisscrossed through the crowded streets, hugging his jacket tight as the chilly wind in the early spring made him shudder. He didn't give the unusually large amount of pedestrians that much thought as his mind was miles away, mulling over his decisions regarding Pamela Blake's operation.

'Why had he acted the way he did?' She had trusted him with her life and her career. When he had been forced to choose between risky procedure that could mark the end of her career as well as be the only way to save her career, he forced Sam to go for another, less risky, procedure and that had unintentionally seemed to have ended her career altogether. Now, while he loved Pamela Blake as a woman, not just a doctor, she was a careerist. Pamela defined herself as a surgeon and prided herself as a transplant specialist, without that she didn't know who she was. Upon learning that she would most likely never be able to operate again on that top notch level she was used to do she had verbally lashed out and told Crockett that she never wanted to see him again.

He had been lost and dejected ever since it happened. He loved Pamela with all his heart, she was much more to him than just a colleague or a fling. He wanted to share the rest of his life with her. Unfortunately he didn't know how to correct the mistake he had made. He just hoped that she would have calmed down upon returning to the hospital and that they could lay all this behind them and start fresh.

"Hey!" Maggie called as he closed in on the entrance to the hospital. "I've been trying to talk to you for a while," she said with a bright smile.

He forced a smile on his face. "Sorry Maggie, I was miles away," he apologized.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed that," she replied softly. "Just be careful, you might get overrun or something walking around in your bubble. The last thing I need is for you to arrive here on a stretcher."

He nodded. "Point taken."

OOOOOO

"Are you ready Nathaniel?" Jack called as he returned to the heart of the train, having lost his tail of reporters on the way.

"I thought you'd never ask," he let on brightly.

Jack chuckled. "That's the spirit. Now, a small change of plans. It is only going to be the two of us on this maiden journey. I don't want to take any chances with the rest of the team or the reporters for that matter."

Nathaniel's smile vanished and he wasn't fully able to disguise his disappointment. "Do you have doubts, Mr. Dayton?" he asked carefully.

Jack shook his head. "Not for a second," he assured the technician. "But I also want to make a point about the manpower needed to run this operation. This train was developed to run with a minimum crew."

Nathaniel brightened again. "That is good to hear. However, if you have doubts about the safety, you really shouldn't be onboard. As the CEO of the Dayton Corporation, you are a valuable-,"

"Okay, I am going to stop you right there Nathaniel," Jack said seriously. "My life is not worth more than yours or anyone else on the team, end of discussion."

The younger man swallowed. "Yes, sir."

"It's Jack, or have you forgotten that?" he stated softly. "Stop placing me on a pedestal, I might fall off."

OOOOOO

To be continued

1/?