Toby just winked at Walter before walking away from him.
Walter looked about but kept Toby in his peripheral vision until they docked. Toby had drifted around for the most part keeping his distance from Walter. He'd drop some coins in various slot machines and every once in a while he'd take a turn or two on the craps table.
Walter was almost to the bus stop when Toby caught back up with him.
"You know, for someone winning so much, you'd think you'd at least take a taxi or something much better than a bus." Toby said.
Walter smiled at first.
"Should you be tempting yourself going on that cruise?" Walter asked as he turned to talk with him.
"It was a calculated risk I grant you. But I'd really been wanting to see you in action. And it was very impressive. You picked up on the people around you pretty well, I'm sure you knew that guy was security too." Toby told him.
"Yes." Walter nodded. "I made him the first day I gambled. He kind of approached me on the way out too."
"I saw." Toby grinned. "My recommendation is you should probably lay low from the cruise ship for a while. Or maybe catch a different time slot. Those guys definitely think you are cheating."
"I agree, I was leaning that way myself. Thanks again for the address for that dance hall." Walter told him.
"You're welcome. So what is up with the cancellation?" Toby asked.
"Oh, well Richard Elia is coming to town tomorrow to discuss a project he wants me to work on for him." Walter explained.
"You know, some world class behaviorist, like me for example, would know that is only about half the truth." Toby grinned.
"Perhaps, but that could be because I'm under contract and can't speak about what the project is." Walter smiled.
"Not a problem Walt. Actually there is another reason I'm here, Happy is a little worried. Said some woman tried to mess with you and Paige at Harvard yesterday afternoon?" Toby asked.
Walter nodded as they got on the bus.
"Same woman I told you about. She apparently has a relationship with the Dean of Women." Walter went on to explain what happened.
"Well good, sounds like you got that taken care of. As an alumni and such, I have a little pull around Harvard, if anything else happens, let me know." Toby told him.
Friday 9:08 am Jack Frost Art School:
"Good morning, I'm Michelle Evans. Are you Walter O'Brien?" Michelle asked as Walter walked into the small building.
"I am." Walter nodded a bit nervously.
Michelle smiled and extended her hand.
"No need to be nervous Walter. I was told you are a beginner?" Michelle asked as Walter nodded and shook her hand. "That's fantastic. Well step over here with me." Michelle told him as she walked around to the other side of the building. They went through a doorway designated as the bathrooms but it was a hallway that also went to the area where they taught sculpting and ceramics.
"I did some online reading on the subject last night as well as watched some videos, so I have some knowledge now." Walter explained.
"That's great, I'll cover some basics and then let you experiment, how about that?" Michelle smiled as she picked up a small lump of clay. Walter nodded and she began explaining the basics.
"Okay, I'm going to give you your starter clay, feel free to work with as much or as little of it as you want. Our policy is a limited first come, first served type. Except for actual designated hours. You can come and work freely for three hours on the days you signed up for at the specified time frame. Any other time you are welcomed, but we do limit time to one hour if there are other students. If not, you can work until your spot is needed by someone else or during a class time." Michelle smiled.
"Thank you." Walter nodded even as he pulled the one foot cube of clay over and uncovered it. Michelle stepped back and just observed.
Walter's head kind of tilted in a cute way and then he adjusted the cube of clay to match and then he pulled the cutting wire up and meticulously cut a large section off and set it aside.
Michelle eventually turned to the other two students who were there but she kept an eye on Walter. She wanted to be able to intercede as she didn't want him to get frustrated. But Walter just worked, occasionally pausing before moving on.
At 10:30 Michelle stepped over and smiled at Walter.
"Are you sure you are a beginner Walter?" Michelle asked.
Walter nodded.
"I have an eidetic memory and I can reproduce results fairly accurately. Sometimes it takes a bit to get my coordination precise, but that is the beauty of clay." Walter told her.
"Yes, you can always add back to it and try again." Michelle nodded. "You are doing an amazing job so far. I'd almost swear you were an advanced student. Anyway class will be over for the day in about an hour. And you will be welcome to keep working as I don't think there won't be anyone else here that will require your spot."
"Thank you, I'll continue to work until about noon but I'll need to leave then as I have a business meeting." Walter explained but kept working.
Glenda smiled at Michelle as she came back around from the class side.
"How's he doing?" Glenda asked quietly.
"Damn, he's good. He claims he's never worked with clay before. Just read some last night and watched some videos. And if that is true, girl, he's a prodigy, he's going to be better than I am." Michelle whispered to her.
"You're kidding me right?" Glenda asked while clearly shocked.
Michelle shook her head.
Just before noon Michelle and Glenda both stepped around and saw Walter cleaning his tools and then they saw his work and gasped.
"Walter?" They both said as they were shocked.
Walter turned confused.
"You did this from memory?" Michelle asked as she walked on back.
Walter frowned but nodded looking at the sculpture.
"I'm absolutely floored. I mean I know practiced artists can do a face in a few hours but this." Michelle said as she squatted down and stared at the clay face.
Walter shrugged.
"Is it not good?" Walter asked a bit fearfully.
"Not good? Walter, are you messing with me? She's so beautiful. How in the world did you do this level of detail in so little time?" Michelle asked.
"I just pictured Paige's face and sculpted it." Walter told her.
"Wholly crap. I can't wait until you finish this and we can fire it. I don't know who Paige is, but Walter, she's going to be amazed at a minimum." Michelle told him as she carefully turned the pedestal the clay was on.
"Richard, good of you for making the trip." Ralph smiled as Richard was led into Ralph's den.
"Absolutely not a problem, I always have time for friends." Richard smiled as he shook hands with Ralph and then Walter. He sat as Ralph gestured.
"Well I know you are a busy man Richard, so we'll just get into it. Walter read your proposal Sunday night and grew concerned at some of the phrases and things he picked up on. He made some inquiries and grew even more concerned and then reached out to me on Monday." Ralph explained and then gestured to Walter.
"Richard, I need to know something. Is all this proposal about, is it just for self driving cars?" Walter asked.
Richard looked puzzled as he looked from Walter to Ralph.
"Of course it is. What else would it be about?" Richard asked.
Ralph nodded to Walter and Walter let out his breath.
"Excuse me, I have improved emotionally since meeting Paige and the rest of my family here. But emotions are still a struggle at times and I can't always determine if someone is being deceptive with me. Richard, the reason your project is falling behind is because someone is trying to develop a true brain to machine interface. Possibly even a way of transferring someone's consciousness into a computer. And it is this that is pulling the resources of your people away from your project and into it." Walter told him.
Richard frowned even as he looked from Walter to Ralph again.
Ralph nodded to him.
"Don't ask me to explain it, but Walter's telling you the truth. He explained it all to me Monday. we're very concerned about it. And if that is what you are really doing, we want no part in it." Ralph told him.
"Walter, Ralph, I'm truly shocked. I haven't set anything up for such a project. I mean I do have a few theoretical researchers who." Richard paused. "Ah damn it, Collins, you son of a bitch." Richard swore as he stood up.
"Who is Collins?" Ralph asked.
"He's a brilliant theoretical genius. Not quite on Walter's scale, but maybe only like twenty points below him. I'd hired him away from the US Security Council's employ a couple of years ago." Richard swore again as he paced.
"Merrick?" Walter said softly looking at Ralph.
"It very well could be Walter. It is definitely something he'd want developed. I'm going to bet Merrick probably snuck this Collins character into your company Richard, hoping to divert research and resources to getting his own agenda accomplished. After Walter had refused to work for them anymore." Ralph nodded.
"Merrick?" Richard stopped and looked at them.
"A particularly nasty individual who was behind the attack on Baghdad in 2001." Ralph told him and then paused. "Wait, Collins, why does that name sound familiar?" Ralph said as he looked at Walter.
Walter shrugged.
Ralph pressed a button on his desk and a moment later agent Charles stepped into the room.
"Yes Mr. Dineen?" Charles asked.
"Charles, does the name Collins mean anything to you?" Ralph asked.
Charles thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"His full name is Mark Collins if that helps." Richard told them.
Ralph snapped his fingers.
"That's it! Mark Collins, of course. We were warned about him." Ralph said.
"Warned? By who, about what?" Richard frowned.
Ralph held up his finger.
"Thank you Charles, would you ask my wife to step in here a moment please?" Ralph asked.
"Of course sir." Charles told him and left.
Ralph stood up as Veronica stepped into the room and he gestured to the side.
Veronica nodded puzzled but stepped over with him.
"Remember when the other Paige came here and warned us about Mark Collins?" Ralph whispered.
Veronica looked shocked but nodded.
"It looks like we're at the point where he is entering our lives. Should I tell Walter?" Ralph asked quietly.
"She said he was dangerous, Ralph, we need to tell him." Veronica whispered as she nodded.
Ralph nodded and kissed her.
"Okay guys." Ralph said as he stepped back over. "I need your word Richard, this doesn't leave this room." Ralph told him.
Richard nodded curiously.
"We're coming up on the second anniversary of an amazing event in our lives back in Callan. We had three very unexpected visitors." Ralph said, looking at Walter. "Our daughter from another universe and her twins were randomly drifting into and out of different realities."
Walter slowly nodded.
"Her and the twins had been destabilized on the quantum level. I built a quantum bridge to restabilize them." Walter said.
"Are you kidding me?" Richard looked at the three of them and they all shook their heads.
"Walter." Ralph said, looking at him. "Veronica and I discussed this with Paige and we made a decision to withhold certain information the other Paige gave us from you. So first, we're sorry we didn't tell you about this. While you were working on the device she warned us. She said on her Earth, there was a man close to her Walter's intelligence, who turned out to be very unstable and dangerous. While he more or less became a friend with her Walter, he made life hell on the other members of Scorpion. That Walter was forced to have him committed and he more or less became a nemesis to him and his group of friends. She wanted us to know, to watch out in case he was the same here." Ralph told them.
"I don't understand Dad? Why didn't you tell me?" Walter asked.
"She'd said it so quietly to us while you worked so hard and Ralph, Paige and I decided we'd wait to see. She'd said that her Walter had been fascinated that he had been so close to his intellect. She said he was very bad for her Walter. They'd frequently go into the rabbit hole trying to figure things out. After what happened to you that day at the lake, we didn't want that possibility ever happening again." Veronica said as she stepped up and pulled Walter into a tight hug. "You mean too much to us to be lost to something like that."
"But Mom, you forget the biggest difference between me and my doppelganger. I have Paige and you guys in my life. I don't need to find someone even remotely close to my intellect. In fact, with the exception of Happy and Toby, I don't care to meet anyone else as intelligent as me. Other than for operating Scorpion." Walter smiled. "My emotions are messed up enough." Walter shrugged.
"I'm not arguing against what you are saying guys, but, could she be wrong?" Richard asked.
"She warned us about how she lost her Father during her first year of college due to a heart attack and how they had no history in their family of one. Despite Ralph taking precautions and going to a heart specialist ever since, we almost lost Ralph last Sunday to a heart attack. If it hadn't been for Toby and the girls' quick actions." Veronica sighed as she told him. "Ralph's family had no history of it here either. So I'm willing to say her words are worth heeding."
"I'm glad to see you didn't die from the heart attack Ralph." Richard smiled. "This is really unsettling. Okay, let's set this aside for one moment. What are your feelings on the project itself?" Richard asked Walter.
"I think it has great potential. I'm willing to help if I'm given control of the project." Walter told him.
"Okay, I'm fine with that, I'll get my attorney to work up a contract and get it to you. Now for the other problem. If he really is as dangerous as you say, what do we do?" Richard asked.
"Well my first thought is, you need to isolate him and his computer from the rest of your system. I don't mean just software wise, I mean hardware as well. You need to cut any connection he can gain access to with your system." Walter told him.
"But do it while he is traveling to work. That way when he gets there you can take him into custody, without endangering your system?" Veronica asked.
"Well I can't really take him into custody, only restrict or forbid his access. If I had an actual crime he's broken I could have authorities there to take him into custody." Richard told him.
"Well if I hadn't hacked my way into your servers I could show your tech how he's been playing around in your system. You might be able to press charges against him that way." Walter shrugged.
"Wait…" Richard paused and then smiled. "You found this out while deciding if you were willing to work on the project right?"
Walter nodded.
"Sure, you should have gotten permission first but it certainly would fall under the purview of you researching the project and finding a discrepancy you wanted to track down." Ralph grinned.
"Exactly, you didn't break the law as far as I am concerned. Alright, I'm going to have someone from my computer IT team contact you this weekend if you are okay with that. You can explain what and how you found out this information on the server." Richard told Walter.
"Well not Saturday after 3 pm, but any time Sunday. I'm taking Paige dancing tomorrow evening." Walter told him.
"If you can explain it to them on Sunday then that is fine by me." Richard grinned.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Railman - I can safely say, stay tuned for continuing chapters to find out if Walter does or doesn't challenge any of the course work at Harvard. LOL As for the visit to their apartment, lol, no Paige wasn't using that as an enticement. She knows Walter is wrapped around her little finger. She could just give Walter a pout and he'd march down to Harvard and sign up for classes if that was what she wanted. lol It will be a few weeks before Ralph and Veronica would be able to join them for dancing. And now you know Toby was there to watch Walter in action. lol
LouBe - Well I aim to please...lol hehe No he didn't borrow her time turner. He said it is simply a matter of time management. He also has some time before he'll begin working on the project as well. More than enough to adjust his activities to afford time for everything. Definitely his acting wasn't that good...lol Maybe Paige can give him some pointers? But you are correct...the genius mind needs lots of activities to keep them happy! Glad you enjoyed the gambling! Well so far it seems his work with the clay is going smashingly! lol In regards to any "nightmares", the Muse really broke through the funk of the wife's birthday yesterday and was screaming at me. So much I wrote 1 full future chapter of Callan and almost 2 other full chapters. 2005 is going to be a heck of a year for the Callan storyline!
Pearliegirl - Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it! And I got a feeling you might be right...be here to read all commotion! lol
Susan - lol Yup, Becky did...let's hope it has been fully removed now! LOL Sometimes I'm unsure of how long to allow the characters to interact like that. I want it enjoyed for sure, but don't want it to over stay its welcome. lol Sorry it didn't go longer for you to enjoy more. I hope that Oh wow is a good thing! lol As a bit of a teaser, Sly will have a big role in 2005! lol Umm...they will get married in *censored*. LOL
To the Adventure! -Tim