Walter sat there for several minutes as his mind began running with the idea and he started mulling over the variables. His thoughts whirled as the probabilities came alive in his mind. His home computer wasn't going to be strong enough for the task, it would take a supercomputer to be able to handle the sheer amount of data and processing speeds. He immediately rejected using any kind of recursive algorithm, it would only slow the process up.
Paige and Happy sat staring at him as his eyes moved back and forth and even his lips seemed to be mouthing thoughts as he went through things.
"Did I break him?" Happy asked curiously.
Paige giggled and shook her head.
"You've never seen him when he gets sucked into using his full consciousness on an idea before." Paige told her.
"Walter, Paige, Happy, it is dinner time." Louise called from the back porch.
Happy jumped up and immediately moved towards the ladder and then saw Walter still sitting there.
"Go ahead sis, tell them we'll be there in a few minutes. I've got to get Walter to come back to reality." Paige told her.
Paige gave Walter a couple of more minutes after she heard the screen door of the house close behind Happy with a bang. She finally reached out and took Walter's hands into her hands before she leaned forward and pressed her lips into his. At first the kiss was one sided but as she pushed her tongue into his mouth Walter's mind quickly responded to the stimuli and all thoughts about the DNA comparison was filed away and his hands rose up to wrap around Paige and pulled her into him.
"A+ Walter." Paige breathed as she broke the kiss. "But Mom already called us for dinner." Paige told him.
Walter blushed as he looked around but then frowned.
"Where did Happy go?" Walter asked.
Paige giggled as she stood up.
"She left about five minutes ago. I told her it might take a few minutes to get you out of your mind." Paige told him as she reached out for his hand.
Walter took her hand before he stood and they journeyed down the ladder and up to the house.
May 28th, 2001, Monday:
Walter arrived early Monday morning at the Dineen home to go with Paige and Happy to school. He asked Sylvia to ask Mr. Dineen if he could speak privately with him. Sylvia smiled and nodded before she went to the dining room.
A few moments later Ralph came walking up to the front of the house with a frown.
"Son? What is going on? You don't have to ask Sylvia to tell me you want to speak with me privately." Ralph told him.
"I'm sorry Dad, I just really need to speak with you." Walter told him nervously.
Ralph nodded as he gestured and they walked to his study.
"Take a seat Walter." Ralph told him as he closed his door and locked it.
Walter sat fidgeting as Ralph walked over and sat down at his desk.
"What's going on?" Ralph asked.
Walter's eyes took in the Smithsonian magazine he'd bought Ralph earlier in the month on his desk.
"Did you enjoy the magazine?" Walter asked with a wavering voice.
Ralph frowned as he looked at it and then back to Walter.
"Walter, this isn't like you son. Are you having problems again, over the bombing?" Ralph asked as he reached out and patted Walter's arm.
Walter shook his head.
"I did something bad Dad. I'm sorry." Walter told him.
Ralph frowned.
"Illegal bad or, what?" Ralph asked concerned.
"Illegal." Walter said as he looked to the floor.
Ralph inhaled sharply.
"Son, I love you, tell me what is going on, we'll get it straightened out." Ralph told him.
"Remember Happy's idea for me to try and write an algorithm to try and help the doctors speed up the DNA analysis?" Walter asked.
Ralph nodded.
"My computer isn't strong enough to handle the load. I finished the algorithm last night. I, I-I hacked into IBM and hijacked their supercomputer to run the program. But, before I could get the results they discovered my hack and terminated my connection." Walter told him.
Ralph sucked his lips into his mouth as he struggled not to break out laughing. The look of anguish on Walter's face was almost comical and would have been had it not been for how much it was twisting Walter up.
Ralph turned in his chair so Walter couldn't see him and his eyes closed as he was failing not to laugh. His mouth opened and he was breathing in rapidly trying to get his calm back. He took a staggering breath and thought he was okay but as he turned and looked back at Walter he couldn't hold it any longer and he began laughing.
Walter sat there frowning as his mind puzzled what was so funny to Ralph.
Ralph shook his hand back and forth for a minute but hadn't stopped laughing yet. Ralph pulled out his handkerchief and brought it up to his face as he wiped at the tears that ran down his face. Finally drawing in a deep breath he smiled at Walter.
"Oh Walter, man, I guess I really needed a good laugh. Sorry if you think I'm laughing at you, I didn't mean anything by it." Ralph told him before he reached out and pulled Walter to stand up with him and he hugged him.
"Walter, first, thank you for coming to me with this." Ralph told him as he gestured back at the chair and they both sat back down. "I'm sure I can work something out with IBM over this so don't be too worried over it. But I'm guessing what you are most concerned with is the results?"
Walter nodded.
"I'm pretty sure my hack was untraceable, but I'd really like to get the results to send to Amanda's doctors." Walter told him.
"God, I can't wait to see when you finally become an adult Walter. You are so amazing, you are going to do great things, I just hope you won't do anymore illegal things." Ralph told him.
Walter smiled.
"I'll do my best." Walter promised.
"Do I have your permission to handle this the best way I can?" Ralph asked.
"I trust you Dad." Walter told him just as there was a soft rattle of the doorknob and then a knock.
"Walter?" They heard Paige's voice.
Ralph stood and stepped to the door and opened it.
"What's going on?" Paige asked.
"Walter wanted to discuss something he did with me. You guys better go have breakfast." Ralph told her and then watched as Walter got up and stepped out of his study. Ralph smiled as the pair hugged.
"Thanks Dad." Walter told him before they walked to the dining room.
"Anytime my boy." Ralph told him before he closed his door and returned to his desk. He pulled up his rolodex and leafed through it for a minute and pulled up a contact. He sat as he picked up his phone and placed the call to the US.
"Yes, this is Ralph Dineen. I need Dan Risener to return my call at his earliest convenience." Ralph said to the answering service. Ralph gave them his phone number and hung up.
As Walter, Paige and Happy left the house they saw a man about their parents' age get out of the back of a black stretch limousine. His dark hair neatly trimmed and freshly shaven face. His clothes spoke of the rich fabric from which they had been made from.
Happy looked at his limousine critically.
"You better tell the driver not to go over thirty when you leave. Otherwise you'll be sitting on the side of the road waiting for a ride." Happy told him.
The man looked from Happy to the car and frowned.
"Well thank you for the warning. What exactly do you think is going to happen to it?" The man asked.
"Your tie rods are shot. I'm surprised you made it here." Happy told him as they walked on by.
He thought about something, and then called back to them.
"Young man, are you Walter?" The man asked.
The three of them and the detail stopped and looked back before Walter stepped just past the last agent.
"I am." Walter told him.
The man smiled and nodded as he slowly stepped towards him.
"Richard Elia, my charity was involved in getting Dr Verbena to take your sister on as a patient. I'd actually been wanting to meet you." Richard told him as he stepped up and reached his hand out.
"Thank you for that." Walter told him as he shook his hand.
"I was happy to make it possible, Walter. I was intrigued by the reports I got on you. Is it true you hacked into NASA to get the shuttle blueprints?" Richard asked.
"I'm sorry, but we need to go so we aren't late to school." Paige told him as she ran back and grabbed Walter's hand to pull him along behind her. "Don't answer that." Paige whispered.
"Maybe we can talk more another time then." Richard called out with a smile on his face that made Paige think of a snake as she looked back at him.
"I don't know who he is but he really set off my creep meter." Paige told them as they moved up the road.
"Do you want us to ensure he doesn't get too close from now on Ms Dineen?" Agent Todd asked.
"Yes, that might be for the best. I don't trust him." Paige told him.
"Richard?" Ralph questioned as Sylvia brought him to the dining room.
"Good morning Ralph." Richard said as he reached his hand out.
Ralph shook it and gestured to a chair at the table.
"Can we offer you something to eat or drink?" Veronica asked even as her skin prickled.
"I wouldn't say no to a cup of coffee, Mrs Dineen." Richard smiled as he sat down. "Thank you."
"What brings you down here so early?" Ralph asked.
"Well mostly I just wanted to thank you personally. We got the permits to begin operations." Richard told him.
Ralph frowned as he looked at his watch.
"They got you the permits early enough that you could drive ninety minutes to thank me personally?" Ralph asked as his brow arched.
Richard laughed.
"Well I got them last Friday night actually. I thought I'd stop by this morning since I had to go look at one of the lots we're considering building the facility on. I'll be heading to the airport here shortly." Richard told him.
"You're welcome. Thank you for getting Dr Verbena for us. That was a giant relief for all of us." Ralph told him as they shook hands.
"Your daughter didn't seem to like me much by the way." Richard told him as they sat there talking.
"Well I've never mentioned you, so it wasn't me. But which one?" Ralph laughed.
"Which one? You have more than one? I hadn't heard." Richard frowned. "Well she was with Walter when I came up, they were with a younger Asian girl. So I figured it was your daughter Paige. She didn't bother to introduce herself."
"That's our daughter Happy." Veronica told him.
"Happy, what an intriguing name." Richard nodded. "And she warned me about the tie rods in my limousine too."
Ralph smiled.
"If she warned you, you should pay attention. When I brought her home the first time a little over two years ago she told me the ball joint was going out in the SUV we were in. So I ordered them to come out and pick it up. The guy refused to bring a tow truck. He had to walk four miles after crashing because it broke on him." Ralph told him.
Richard laughed.
"Well then I'll be sure to follow her advice." Richard said as he looked at his watch. "I need to go Ralph. I'll probably be back in a month when we're ready to break ground. If possible, I'd really like to talk to Walter."
Ralph nodded.
"Have a good flight Richard." Ralph shook his hand and walked him to the door. Ralph returned to the dining room and Veronica looked at him.
"What did Walter want dear?" Veronica asked.
Ralph sighed.
"Apparently he worked on that algorithm to compare DNA all weekend and last night he hacked his way into IBM and took over their supercomputer to run the code. But just before it was finished IBM discovered the hack and took back control." Ralph told her.
Veronica sat shaking her head.
"That boy, he's going to give me grey hair yet." Veronica sighed. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I've got a call in to Dan Risener for when he gets in. He's in charge of everyday operations. I'll work a deal with him to protect Walter." Ralph told her before he kissed her. "I'll see you this evening my love."
"See you this evening Ralphie." Veronica grinned.
"Oh my." Ralph said with a grin as he turned and left.
"Dan, how are you?" Ralph greeted Dan as he called him just after lunch.
"Ralph, man, talk about a shock. I can't believe I heard from you. What's going on?" Dan asked.
"Life in general. Finally got myself a permanent posting here in Ireland though. You and Betty should come for a holiday with us. You can meet our new daughter." Ralph told him.
"New daughter? I didn't know you guys were trying again. Paige is what, 16 now? Congratulations anyway." Dan smiled.
"Don't rush her Dan, please." Ralph laughed. "She's 15 going on 30, especially with her boyfriend."
Dan laughed.
"Oh man, boyfriend huh? Boy that must be tough." Dan teased.
"Yeah, they met on her first day at school in '98 and they've been inseparable since. But no, we adopted my sister's foster daughter after she died in that American Airlines flight from Tokyo back in '99." Ralph told him.
"Oh damn Ralph, I hadn't heard. I'm so sorry. And congratulations on the new daughter." Dan told him.
"Thanks, we really do need to catch up sometime but I have a problem I need your help with." Ralph told him.
"Really?" Dan asked, surprised.
"Yes, I suppose you know that your supercomputer got hijacked last night?" Ralph asked him.
"Wait, how do you know about that?" Dan was curious.
"Let's just say that I have my sources. I wanted to work out a deal with you over the perpetrator who did it." Ralph told him.
"Ralph, we go back to college together, this is serious." Dan told him.
"Dan, the young man in question wasn't trying to harm IBM or anything. A young girl is dying, the medical community has failed at figuring out what is wrong with her. Their only chance is to compare her DNA with her parents to figure out if a mutation is causing this. The young man finished writing a program last night to do the comparison faster than anything else. But he needed something with power to run it. So he hacked and used your supercomputer. Just before he got the results your people had discovered the hack and locked him out." Ralph told him.
"Damn it Ralph, playing a sick kid card, really?" Dan said gruffly.
"I'm serious Dan. She's the daughter of one of the agents who protects my daughter. He's been off her case for a couple of weeks now cause they don't know how much longer she's going to live. I'm being honest with you Dan." Ralph told him. "If it will help, I can have the young man give IBM half the credit for the program."
"No, I don't want something like that on my head. Damn it, okay look, I'll get the program's results sent to your email in a few minutes. But I want to know how he hacked into our system. That will help us safeguard our system more. But Ralph, if he does something like this again, we're going after him tooth and nail. We'd have been happy to have loaned the time to him for this." Dan told him.
"Dan, thank you so much. That won't be a problem. Once he is out of school tonight I'll make him write it all down and send it to you." Ralph assured him.
"School? How old is this young man?" Dan asked.
"He just turned 16 the other day." Ralph explained.
Greetings! Hope this finds you all well!
Railman - Glad to hear it! hehe Yeah, definitely a sad time. Glad it is intriguing though!
Margaret - Yeah, I've done so many searches trying to find the answer but I have yet to find an official, just lots of speculations. I've looked through the transcript of "Rogue Element" which is when we meet Cabe's ex-wife, I figured if there was a cause given it would be there, but I never found anything. If you do, please let me know! Yes, I can imagine it is a bit different, even for the time period I grew up in.
2LawDog - Aww, thank you! There are more brief glimpses into this in coming chapters. Next chapter is the big show down, then the next chapter will be the beginning of the inverted drop.
Susan - Me too...just...a bad situation all around. Here's to it turning around...eventually! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim