《The Cosmic Guardian's Call Vol. 3 The Call of the Desert》 Vol.3 Chap.1 A break through ***** Vol.3 Chap.1 A break through ***** Early spring, 2005 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ¡°Professor Abdulcizi!¡± After knocking loudly on the office door, JB shouted excitedly and peered into the keyhole to see if there was anyone in the office. Inside, the attention of the occupant, sitting on a soft executive chair behind an old wooden desk filled with papers and magazines, seemed to be elsewhere. The face was worn and tired, with deep lines around the eyes, the hair with patches of whitish gray and whatever was left was slightly shuffled, though well combed, but the hairline appeared to be receding. While the body was towards the monitor, the eyes were blank and fixed on the vast nothing outside the window. ¡°PROFESSOR ABDULCIZI! PROFESSOR ABDULCIZI!¡± JB was getting very impatient. She knocked loudly again on the door and shouted into the keyhole. In fact, the force of her knock caused the nameplate on the door, engraved with ¡®Frank Abdulcizi, Ph.D. The George W. Smith Professor of Computer Science,¡¯ to come unglued and fell. Gingerly, she picked it up and stuck it back on the door. Wow! JB smiled longingly as she pictured herself occupying the chair in that office behind that door. Someday soon! She consoled herself. Inside the room, Frank was reminiscing with his childhood sweetheart, frolicking in the warm Egyptian sand. He remembered how they were laughing and playing hide and seek around the Sphinx, how they sat on top of the Sphinx after all the tourists had left and fantasized about the clouds making imaginary animal stories, and how they would come down to the front of the Sphinx making sand figures. Ah, those were the happy days! He said to himself as he savored the memories. Somehow there was a subliminal draw towards his childhood land. Outside the office door, JB was getting very antsy now. She rattled the doorknob and shouted again into the keyhole. ¡°PROFESSOR ABDULCIZI! I¡¯ve done it! I have a viable model!¡± A gentle stir inside the room. The occupant, aroused by the noisy racket, had to put aside those happy memories and come back to the present. A dove flew by the window, squawking loudly outside the window. Still with a dazed look on the face and with great reluctance, Frank slowly returned to reality, to the mundane chores, to another interruption, to another meeting. Sigh! The gentle ticking of the battery-operated clock sitting next to the monitor came alive as it marked the seconds flying by. Soft sunlight warmed the face. The dove flew for another circle, squawking a little louder this time. The great executive chair slowly swiveled back into position to face the door. ¡°Come in.¡± Even before Frank¡¯s last word was spoken, JB already burst into the room holding a stack of computer printouts. As she was approaching in haste, she knocked over the wastepaper basket that was resting innocently next to the grand desk and kicked the basket out of her way. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. She could not hold her tongue nor contain her excitement any longer. Looking excitedly at her supervising Professor who seemed to have a hard time gathering himself back together, she exploded with excitement. ¡°Look, look! The generative AI program I wrote had produced a model!¡± she exclaimed excitedly, as if she had ten cups of coffee coursing through her system. She probably did. She threw the papers down on top of everything else on the desk and flipped over the pages and move her fingers over the numbers, talking a mile a minute. Then, out of nowhere, she fished out two crudely plotted graphs with no headings, no labels, just a curve on each paper. She could have gone on and on except her professor presently raised his hand and stopped her. ¡°Wait!¡± Frank stopped his post-doc from getting overly excited. ¡°One of these days, you¡¯ve got to learn how to talk like a normal human being rather than a geek. Consider this as a part of your post-doc training. You, mind as well, begin now. Start from the beginning and tell me the entire story in two minutes or fewer in layperson¡¯s terms, please.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°I have programmed my AI neural net to generate a model to predict persons with aggressive behavior based on all parts of the person¡¯s DNA genome collected from the penitentiaries across the country. By stripping out the parts of the DNA that were deemed irrelevant as we talked last time, and using all the rest of the DNA sequence, I now have a viable model to identify those individuals with aggressive tendencies.¡± To a layperson, this was still total gibberish. Frank surmised. Well, it was a start anyway. Frank remembered three years ago, he collaborated with Dr. Margaret Tomash at the Department of Genetics of the Medical School, studying the effects of DNA expressions and corresponding observed behavior. It was fortuitous that the government had mandated that the DNA information of all inmates be collected. This information was subsequently released without identification for research. The team immediately applied to the government for the use of this data. Two years ago, Frank attended the International Conference on Computational Intelligence and heard JB talk about her dissertation on generative artificial intelligence (AI), a new and emerging area of computer science that was at the fore front of automatic programming, the epitome of machine intelligence. He saw the potential of such programming. Immediately after JB¡¯s talk, he wasted no time to invite her to come to his research laboratory to work on the human genome project. Being fresh out of the doctoral program, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with a prominent scientist in the field. But in JB¡¯s eyes, first she saw the glory of herself receiving the Nobel prize as being the pioneer in cracking the human genome encoding from the behavioral perspective. The job was secondary. Then she saw the dollar sign by being at the forefront of computer science research. Finally, she saw power from gaining such notoriety. It took a total of three whole seconds for her to agree. So, packing up her computer, she headed for Pittsburgh right after the final defense of her doctoral dissertation. With the addition of JB to the research team, Frank and Margaret immediately made great strides in identifying portions of the DNA sequence that might be related to aggressive behavior. ¡°So, the program generated a viable model?¡± Frank asked nonchalantly. ¡°By combining all the snippets of different DNA sequences, the artificial neural net selected multiple portions to give a decent prediction of whether the person would be susceptible to aggressive behavior or not.¡± ¡°That is excellent. How accurate was the prediction?¡± ¡°About 60% presently.¡± Just then, the phone rang. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°This is the office calling. You have an anxious doctoral student here waiting for you to come to his doctoral defense. The committee has been waiting for over fifteen minutes already!¡± ¡°Oops! I will be down immediately.¡± Frank hung up the phone. Absent-minded professor, Frank mumbled to himself. ¡°JB, we are late for Mark¡¯s doctoral defense! Let¡¯s go. But call Margaret first and see if she can come over for a working dinner tonight at six in my office and we will go over your results then.¡± Without another word, Frank left the office and rushed to the conference room, where a nervous student was pacing back and forth. Vol.3 Chap.2 Doctoral defense ***** Vol.3 Chap.2 Doctoral defense ***** Mark Hymann started his doctoral research four years ago when he came to Carnegie Institute. He was an excellent student and most of the time worked on his own, except for the weekly meeting with Frank, his supervising professor. If only all the students I had would be like Mark, the world would be so much easier. Frank reminded himself as he walked into the room. ¡°So sorry. Got tied up momentarily.¡± He announced his arrival apologetically. This was obviously a little white lie and everybody knew it, but it would do. ¡°Well, everyone in Mark¡¯s doctoral committee is here, including me.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Thank you for coming. I see that we also have a good faculty representation from my department and other departments as well. Hi, George, nice to see you. Susan, nice to see you as well. Someone must have told the psychology and philosophy people about this defense.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Anyway, I thank the audience for coming today. We all know this is the final doctoral defense for Mark, who has done some very interesting work on the life of artificial creatures. So, let me turn over the stage to him and let him charm you on what he accomplished for the past few years and let you all judge if my money in supporting him was well spent or not. Mark?¡± Frank liked to give a lighthearted introduction to ease the atmosphere and tension in the room. Otherwise, all the doctoral students would have a heart attack before and if not during the defense. ¡°Dear professors and members of my doctoral committee, distinguished guests, today, I want to tell you a little about my research. First, I want to say that this is more than research. What I have done is to develop a whole new species of artificial and intelligent life¡­¡± Mark began his doctoral defense. Just then, JB walked into the room. She found a seat near Frank and gave him a thumb up. He nodded in acknowledgment. Frank had heard the speech so many times in the past that he slowly drifted off to his usual day dreaming. He glanced at Mark, who was explaining meticulously the research results, and relaxed. Mark started his research with a swarm of artificial creatures and programmed the creatures not only with predefined skills and the ability to adapt but also to interact and communicate with one another collaboratively. An individual creature may be very simple, but the collective power was multiplicative of individual capability. Like ants. Like bees. He called this ¡®colony power.¡¯ For the doctoral research, Frank, as a good supervising professor would, challenged him to go further, beyond the obvious and posed the next barrier to him. What if the creatures not only could adapt and communicate but also evolve through mutation? What if the lessons learned from one generation could be saved and passed on to the next generation? Mark¡¯s eyes became wide open. He was silent for a good ten seconds, then nodded his head and took the challenge from his professor. Yes, what if the creatures could remember the lessons learned and be able to evolve? What an intriguing experiment that would be! Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. His dissertation topic was thus decided four years ago. In his program, adaptation and evolution worked together, allowing rapid advancement in the creatures¡¯ development from generation to the next. Creatures with elementary skills rapidly developed the necessary enhancements based on the allowable capabilities originally programmed. While it was not possible to evolve beyond some bounds, the creatures could optimize their abilities rather rapidly for survival. ¡°So, in summary, I want to thank my supervising professor, Dr. Abdulcizi, for his patience and guidance throughout the past four years. I thank him for supporting me and guiding me to the completion of my doctoral research.¡± Mark relaxed a bit. ¡°Again, I want to thank the audience for your attention in my presentation. This is what I have prepared for my presentation and I will be happy to answer any further questions.¡± Frank reminded himself to come back to reality. Dutifully, he stood up and said, ¡°At this point, we will take questions from the audience. I would like to ask the committee to hold their questions to the end and let the audience go first.¡± ¡°Susan, you have a question?¡± Frank pointed to Dr. Toulaski from the Department of Psychology. ¡°Yes, Frank, thank you. Mark, I was very intrigued by your presentation. I am also very interested in your experience with your creatures. At any time, did they display any aggression or submission as they interact with predators or one another?¡± ¡°Dr. Toulaski, this is a tough question to answer. As for aggression among the creatures, it was not in their programmed nature. But one time, I mistakenly programmed the predator as food. Of course, the creatures acted crazily because they were attracted to food but were at the same time diverted away from predators. But I recalled some cooperation among the creatures to defeat the predator. Perhaps that would be what you call aggression. I don¡¯t know. Would you call that aggression?¡± She shrugged her shoulders. Good answer. Frank thought. ¡°Yes, Leon?¡± Frank pointed to Dr. Lucianos from the Philosophy department. ¡°Mark, what would you predict concerning the behavior of the creatures if they could indeed inflict harm?¡± Silence befell the room. The questions were getting tough. ¡°My guess is that if the creatures could inflict harm, they would use that effectively to deter predators.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose the defeat of predators would be necessary for survival. What about protecting food sources against your own kind? Would that not also be for survival also?¡± Leon continued. The question was getting nasty. ¡°Well, perhaps. Since I had not explored that scenario, I would not know how to respond to that,¡± Mark replied sheepishly. He shuffled his feet back and forth, looking a little nervous. Good answer. Though Frank was getting uncomfortable as well. ¡°But you must have some idea? Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I suppose it might be possible that if I ran the program enough times, and long enough, and if I introduced enough random elements into the program and allowed the creature sensors to be noisy enough so that a creature of like kind would somehow be regarded mistakenly as food, then there might be a remote possibility that the creatures might gang up by mistake and mistreat one of the other creatures as food. But I personally feel that such situations would be very, very, very remote.¡± JB answered, shaking his head emphatically as if to help him make the point. He tried his best to hedge his answers. Frank stood up, but before he could say anything, Leon took the opportunity and pressed further. ¡°Then you are not denying that such a possibility exists?¡± ¡°Er¡­¡± Mark¡¯s face turned red and clearly scared out of his wits. He was at a total loss for words. Time to step in. ¡°Leon. That was an excellent question and has tremendous implications. Our research at this point is still very elementary. We barely had time to test out the program and there are still many holes in the theory that we had to tidy up.¡± A diversion. ¡°I wanted to remind the audience that these were artificial creatures that were given some basic routines or instructions in your terminology, and they only existed on Mark¡¯s computer.¡± Come on people, these are all artificial creatures in the computer memory! Of course, Frank did not say that aloud. ¡°If there are no further questions, I thank the audience for coming and I would like to ask that only Mark¡¯s committee members remain in the room for the next phase of the examination.¡± The rest of the defense was uneventful, as expected. Vol.3 Chap.3 A moral dilemma ***** Vol.3 Chap.3 A moral dilemma ***** After everybody left, Frank asked, ¡°Well, Mark. What is the actual answer to Leon¡¯s question?¡± ¡°The truth is that aggression against one¡¯s own kind happened often. Cliques were formed and cooperation generally was restricted to members within the same clique. This was a by-product of mutation because members of the same clique possessed the same language. They understand one another. But when a member from outside the clique arrived, the new creature could not communicate with the foreign clique and was thus treated as an enemy.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Because we set the parameter for survival very high, the creatures were not benevolent at all. Survival was all the creatures knew and cared about.¡± ¡°Good, let¡¯s talk another time. I have sufficient funds to support you for another year as a post-doc to continue this work. Would you like to stay here for another year? I have lots of scenarios I want you to explore.¡± ¡°Be glad to.¡± ¡°Super. Now go get drunk.¡± ¡°Not really. Got to turn in the corrected dissertation in 48 hours.¡± ¡°OK, turn in the dissertation, then get drunk. When you are sober, come see me. I am eager for you to get started.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± But Frank was already out of the room. It was past six in the afternoon when Mark finished his dissertation defense. Good kid. Frank thought. Though elated that he helped another student finish, Frank¡¯s mood was much dampened and spoiled by Leon¡¯s question. At the back of his mind, something still nagged him as he walked back to his office. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Is morality or lack of it a by-product of evolution and mutation? Always? Can the sense of survival be so strong that neutral creatures can and will become aggressive? If unchecked, will evil be the last stop in life¡¯s journey? Surely not! This cannot be. He shuddered at the thought. While totally displeased by Leon¡¯s questions, Frank was also glad that these questions were brought up as they awakened some deep doubts within him, uncertainties he had been wrestling for quite a long time. He could not reconcile the dichotomy of evolution and creation in society and humanity. If this world was indeed created by a certain Supreme Being called God, then was evil also created by this same Supreme Being? That hardly seemed logical at all. Was evil created or evolved? Why was there so much suffering and misfortune in this world? Why did accidents happen to both the good and the evil? Why was it that there were so many religions that believed in one God, three Gods, many Gods, etc.? Must religion be always so confusing? Many questions, yet no answers. Clearly, there was order observed in the universe as seen in the planets and even on this planet earth for life to be maintained. There must be a purpose in this universe, a meaning in human existence, a goal to humanity. It was hard to fathom the intricacies, complexity, and the balance required just to support human life on this earth; there was simply too much coincidence for life to just ¡°happen¡± through evolution. But even putting evolution aside, there was plenty of evidence in the natural world to support Darwin¡¯s basic theory of the survival of the fittest. Survival was the key in the jungle, in the desert, and even in modern society. In the animal kingdom, only the strongest and the most dominant ones were the ones with the privilege of passing on their genes to the next generation. In the business world, only the strongest corporations stayed after an inevitable shakedown. In education, only the top students rose to the top and received the best education. As each human generation appeared and disappeared, from the hippies, to the boomers, to the yuppies, to Generation X, to Generation Y, to Generation Z, and so on, each generation was built on the foundation and knowledge of all the previous generations. If evolution was true, why were there enormous gaps in the development road map of the homo sapiens from a single amoeba? Who were the predecessors of apes and monkeys? More questions and even fewer answers. I must have a closer examination of Mark¡¯s program again. He found a renewed interest in those artificial creatures. Vol.3 Chap.4 Debate in the research meeting ***** Vol.3 Chap.4 Debate in the research meeting ***** As Frank was heading back to his office, he distinctly recalled what happened in the research meeting three weeks ago with Margaret and JB. Their research was at a standstill and the team was at a total loss, baffled by the lack of success in coming up with a model to identify persons with aggressive behavior based on the genetic information on a particular chromosome. The three of them gathered in Frank¡¯s office for a brainstorming session. ¡°There¡¯s got to be some differences between those with violent tendencies and those without,¡± said Margaret, ¡°and it had to be in chromosome 22. All the literature supported that conclusion¡­¡± ¡°But there is nothing there!¡± JB retorted back, being quite frustrated. ¡°Well, maybe there is something missing with the program?¡± inquired Margaret calmly. ¡°There is nothing wrong with my program!¡± JB was getting defensive. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I checked the program and reran the program three times.¡± ¡°Hey guys, perhaps we are looking at the wrong place,¡± said Frank. ¡°Garbage in garbage out,¡± countered JB. ¡°We eliminated the similarities in genetic coding in siblings with and without violent tendencies, so the difference in observed behavior has to be based on what is different,¡± replied Margaret. ¡°If the program is correct. I have no reason to think that it is not¡­¡± Frank came to the rescue. ¡°Yeah!¡± interrupted JB. ¡°If we cannot find anything, and Margaret, you said that we are looking at the right gene, then the answer must be somewhere. It is just that we are not looking at the right thing or the right place. Team, let¡¯s brainstorm a little again. Where and how would the observed behavior be carried in the genetic code?¡± At least somebody had a cool head. Margaret thought. At least somebody believed me. JB mumbled to herself. ¡°It must be in the random part. We are just not looking at the right place,¡± said JB. Frank noticed that JB kept scribbling in her logbook. ¡°We are looking at the raw DNA coding in chromosome 22. The actual expression of the DNA depends on many factors and many other parts of the DNA¡­¡± Margaret said, citing some recent literature. ¡°Ah ha! Does that mean that the expression depends on multiple locations in the DNA?¡± asked Frank as if a stroke of genius struck him. He was shooting off ideas like a freight train. Of course, as a leader of the team, that was his job to challenge the team and to provide inspirations for the team. ¡°Hmm. JB, can we set the computer program to look for all suspected DNA sequences, not just chromosome 22?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°That may be a better way,¡± Margaret nodded her head. ¡°Good. JB, reprogram the computer with this new direction.¡± That was a good brainstorming meeting. Frank was pleased with the suggestions and the new directions. Frank rounded the corner leading to his office. Margaret and JB were already waiting at the door. Margaret was standing near the door trying to read a recent issue of the Journal of Genetics she just received that day. Thumbing through the journal looking for any interesting articles that caught her eye. JB, as expected, was pacing back and forth, hanging on clumsily to her stack of computer printouts, preventing them from scattering all over the floor. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Hi, Margaret, JB. Thanks for waiting. Did anyone order pizzas? It has been a long day and I am famished.¡± Frank waited. ¡°Guess not. Great, what would you all like? Supreme as usual?¡± He asked as he fumbled around for his keys and opened the door. As soon as the door was half opened, they piled in. He picked up the telephone and ordered two large pizzas with everything on top. He knew JB loved to eat. ¡°OK, JB. What was so exciting this time? Margaret and I are all ears. And don¡¯t forget; please speak in layperson¡¯s terms, not techies¡¯ gobbledygook.¡± JB took the time to explain the new model generated by her program. She explained that by comparing the DNA material of violent inmates with their docile siblings, she could eliminate the similar parts of the DNA sequences. So, she directed the generative AI program she wrote to concentrate not just on chromosome 22 but on all the rest of the DNA sequences that differed between siblings. Surprisingly, the program produced a good predictive model. ¡°What is the significance of this new model?¡± Margaret asked. ¡°I now have a workable model that can scan multiple DNA sequences and predict those persons with aggressive tendencies.¡± A bold claim from JB. ¡°Wow.¡± Margaret sat back and was dumbfounded. ¡°What is the success rate?¡± Frank asked. ¡°The prediction is about 60% correct.¡± ¡°Better than 50-50.¡± Margaret chimed in. ¡°Can that be improved?¡± Frank was not satisfied. ¡°I hope so. That should not be difficult.¡± ¡°Great. Let¡¯s put that to the test. This has been a very productive meeting.¡± Frank was pleased with the research results. ¡°More pizza, anyone?¡± Frank looked at Margaret and JB and they were both shaking their heads. ¡°Before we disband, I would like some feedback about today¡¯s doctoral defense. Margaret, you were there this afternoon. When Mark added a mutation to simulate evolution, the results were surprising. In every case that he tried, when the food became scarce, the creatures would turn on one another and only the dominant clique survived to the extinction of the rest.¡± A slight pause. ¡°We did not report that result, because it was too troubling for me.¡± Frank was bothered and annoyed at the same time. He continued, ¡°But old Leon from the Philosophy Department kept needling Mark about aggression. So, I stepped in and broke up the fight. Now that we are all friends here, I would very much like your educated or uneducated, biased or unbiased opinions. JB, you were there at the talk and I know you are quite familiar with Mark¡¯s work since you have helped him somewhat in the past as well. What do you think?¡± ¡°Mark did a remarkable job.¡± ¡°He did. I am more interested in your reaction to Leon¡¯s questions. Basically, the computer experiments seemed to support that the instinct for survival eventually bred aggression.¡± ¡°That is predictable and inevitable. Since survival is the most important thing in the creature¡¯s life. Only those mutations that generate traits to prolong life would be deemed valuable and hence got passed on from generation to generation.¡± JB said as-a-matter-of-factly. ¡°Is survival all there is to it?¡± asked Frank. ¡°Survival is all there is for the creatures,¡± answered JB definitively. ¡°Margaret? What about you?¡± asked Frank. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in any of these. For heaven¡¯s sake, these are artificial creatures; they are not real.¡± ¡°Good point, but can we not learn anything from them at all? After all, would our behavior be similar? Different?¡± ¡°Perhaps, but I prefer to consider that there are more important things here than just survival. What about intellectual pursuit, or morality, or religious fervor that we value so much in our lives? I hope we are many, many times more complex than Mark¡¯s creatures.¡± ¡°You said morality. Is that a learned trait or a predefined trait? Better still, is that an evolved trait?¡± Frank was pressing her hard on this point. ¡°I feel we are basically wired for moral behavior. People turned immoral because of extraordinary circumstances.¡± Margaret always looked on the bright side. ¡°So, morality is an innate trait. I agree with you,¡± continued Frank. ¡°It may start off that way, but our experience would certainly change our perspectives as time goes on.¡± ¡°Granted.¡± ¡°There was cooperation when the food supply is plenty. But aggression is inevitable when food is scarce.¡± JB interjected conclusively. ¡°Are you assuming that homo sapiens are basically evil?¡± Margaret shot back. ¡°My oriental friends would disagree with you. Many of them feel strongly that we are good and moral to begin life with.¡± Frank tried to mollify the situation. ¡°Perhaps, but I see evil every day in society than altruism. Just look at the daily newspaper!¡± ¡°Well, to me, deep down, there is more ¡®good¡¯ than ¡®evil¡¯ in every human being.¡± ¡°According to you,¡± JB Said sourly. ¡°Well, is immorality an evolved trait, then?¡± asked Frank, who was finally getting down to what he wanted to ask. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Margaret replied instantly, without thinking. ¡°Immorality or lack of ethics is an evolved trait. Only higher consciousness from learned experiences could suppress this innate immorality.¡± ¡°Interesting idea. Do you think you can prove it?¡± asked Frank. ¡°This is totally crazy,¡± added Margaret. ¡°Well, JB, maybe you can find the answer in the dataset.¡± ¡°I might be.¡± ¡°I doubted.¡± It was getting late. ¡°Thanks, team. This was a good research meeting today. Very productive. Shall we meet again next week?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Margaret waved her hand and left to go home. ¡°No problem.¡± Following Margaret out of the office, JB also picked up her pile of computer printouts and headed straight to her office. There would be a few sleepless nights in the laboratory again. Vol.3 Chap.5 News flash about dolphins ***** Vol.3 Chap.5 News flash about dolphins ***** Frank returned to his nice, soft chair behind the desk. The events of the day weighed heavily on his subconsciousness. His chair, his inner sanctum, was his escape. He racked his brain considering the events of the day. But enough was enough for the day. Picking up some Moo Goo Gai Pan dinner from the nearby takeout express, he headed home. As he relaxed in his favorite chair at home, he turned the TV on and switched to the CNN channel while he mindlessly consumed his dinner. A CNN special was on about the launching of a research vessel called the Mayflower by NOAA. ¡­During this trip on the Mayflower research vessel, the first three-dimensional (3D) sonar ranging and scanning system providing unprecedented resolution and clarity on the underwater images using the latest signal processing technology will be tested. With us are Captain Jonas Tontere and Dr. Kristin Sobinowski, Director of Underwater Research Programs at NOAA. ¡°Captain Jonas, what is so significant about this launch?¡± ¡°Let me tell you, this is the launch of the century. On my vessel, we have installed the first and the most advanced depth and side looking sonar that provides unprecedented 3D underwater pictures that are clear that when viewing them on the monitor¡­¡± Jonas loves the limelight and took every opportunity to enhance his image. He continued in his pompous and patronizing manner. ¡°¡­I was privileged to some of the former tests, and I can tell you that those 3D images are incredible. I have seen a lot of sonar pictures in my life and there is nothing that can be compared to these ¡­¡± ¡°Thank you, Captain Jonas.¡± The reporter politely retracted the microphone. Frank had enough of Jonas¡¯ self-promotion as well. Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Dr. Sobinowski, can you tell us about other research projects at this launch?¡± ¡°Sure, it is my pleasure. Of course, one of the primary purposes of this upcoming launch is to show the advanced sonar system as Captain Jonas had highlighted. We also have another important research project, launching a small submersible for the study of dolphins and other sea mammals.¡± Frank can hear Captain Jonas clearing his throat loudly in the background. ¡°We are interested in the social behavior of dolphins.¡± Kristin continued. Frank¡¯s ear perked up. ¡°Many studies had suggested the absence of aggressive behavior among the dolphins, the new submersible would allow us to observe the dolphins in close range.¡± The program now got his attention. ¡°Dolphins are gregarious creatures. They are graceful and intelligent. There is a lot we can learn from dolphins. For example, they mate for life and take care of their young. They work harmoniously in groups in their own wonderful society.¡± He is listening now. ¡°There is much we can learn from the dolphins. ¡­¡± ¡°We have some of the top known scientists with us in the upcoming launch.¡± Jonas grabbed the conversation. ¡°It was a multinational collaborative effort¡­¡± Jonas droned on and on¡­ He was intrigued by the dolphins and the bold claim that there were no aggressive behaviors among them. He had never heard of dolphins attacking humans or other animals. Not being a zoologist, he took Kristin¡¯s word for it. But is it possible that here on this earth, there is a species that has no aggression? And this species still exists today among all the other aggressive predators? He remembered Mark¡¯s simulation that seemed to suggest that aggression would ultimately dominate the outcome because of the instinct of survival. But here is a species that has no aggression and yet still exists, or rather co-exist peacefully with other predators. On one hand, Frank was pleased to hear that, but he also doubted that could happen on planet earth. He longed for a society without aggression, at least among the homo sapiens. Perhaps he was too idealistic, he chastised himself. When he finished with the food, he sat back in his easy chair and reviewed the events of the day. The more he considered the various scenarios of the artificial creatures, the more depressed he got. The more he dwelled on the questions, the more confused he got. The more he pondered on the past, the less he could see through. He was confused because he had thoughts about these issues, but had brushed them past him. These issues had never bothered him before. But somehow, the questioning by his colleagues had awoken a deep yearning inside of him for the truth. He felt like he was grappling, but was not sure what he was trying to catch. Eventually, he decided to forget the whole thing and head to bed. Vol.3 Chap.6 Internal conflicts and debates ***** Vol.3 Chap.6 Internal conflicts and debates ***** It was another weekly meeting with the team. Margaret, JB, and Frank were sitting around the table in Frank¡¯s office. Frank started the discussion. ¡°Well, JB, how was the programming going? Have you discovered anything interesting?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Last time you reported the generative AI program could produce a new predictive model of aggression. Were you able to duplicate the results and were you able to come up with a better model?¡± ¡°No new results yet. I am rerunning the program and rechecking every aspect of the program.¡± ¡°Great. If it is alright with you folks, I have asked Mark Hymann to join the team. He will work with me as a post-doc for a couple of years to look at a few things and continue his research.¡± ¡°We need some fresh blood around here.¡± Margaret responded with delight. ¡°Mark is a great guy,¡± said JB emotionlessly. ¡°I am glad you all agree. I¡¯ve asked him to present some of his work next time.¡± After the research meeting, Frank¡¯s mind went into overdrive and questioned the implications of their result findings. Frank trusted JB¡¯s programming skill. There was no reason not to. But if the results were correct, then the implications of these results were significant, tantamount, and unfathomable. He walked over to the whiteboard. After erasing everything on the board, he wrote a set of questions on the board and punctuated each of them with a big question mark.
  1. Can the tendency for violent behavior of an individual be predicted by the generative AI model from his research team based on multiple segments of the genes?
  2. Can the DNA sequence of an offspring be partly determined by random chance or mutation based on the parents¡¯ DNA sequences?
  3. Is it possible that our behavioral traits be partly determined by chance or mutation?
  4. Can unacceptable behavioral traits be detected early in the pregnancy?
  5. Can unacceptable behavioral traits be corrected early in the pregnancy?
  6. Can unacceptable behavior be controlled and eventually eliminated from society?
  7. Is morality or immorality a thing of chance?
  8. ¡­
Frank¡¯s inspirations ran on and on and could hardly stop. The questions kept coming to him and he would write them down as fast as he could. When the inspirations paused, he trudged to his desk and sank into his chair. He turned away from the whiteboard and stared at the outside of his picture window. There was no need to look at the board as those questions had been permanently etched into his mind. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. On one hand, he felt a great relief, as if someone had put words to his inner sanctum, to his innermost fears, to his unending quest for truth and knowledge. But he felt even uneasy, even disturbed now that his fears were voiced. What if the answers to these questions were affirmative? Could it be true that the DNA sequence of an offspring was partly determined by random chance because of a mismatch between the parents¡¯ DNA sequences? Could it be true that the violent behavior of an offspring was solely determined by some coding in the DNA sequences? These questions bothered Frank to no end and affirmative answers to them even more deeply disturbed him. Frank sank lower into his chair. He stared at the campus ground outside his window. It was a windy day and the leaves are being blown around by the wind. There were little swirls of leaves and dust all around. The friendly pigeons were gone, leaving him by himself in this whole wide world. Was it possible that one could predict, to a certain degree, the resultant DNA sequence of the offspring? If so, could that information be used to legislate about marriage between partners? Even worse, would a test of compatibility be imposed? Could such information be abused? Would that not be an invasion of privacy? Should a physician warn a couple about the impending mismatch in their union and subsequent offspring? Frank¡¯s head was reeling at this point. The ¡®truth¡¯ demanded too much responsibility from him. He was not willing to bear the responsibilities and so he was not willing to accept the truth. He shook his head violently. No, this could not be true. Denial. As the first question subsided in his sub-consciousness, the second question surfaced. Could it be true that the violent behavior of an offspring was determined by some sequences in the DNA? He shuddered at that thought. All his life, he heard many psychologists and famous scientists talked about the nature versus nurture. Many social psychologists insisted that violence was a learned behavior because of the improper upbringing of the child. So, violence was not a ¡°nature¡± thing, but a ¡°nurture¡± thing. But here, his own research results seemed to show that violence was a ¡°nature¡± thing, that a person was ¡°wired¡± or predetermined for violence. What an excuse this would give to all the inmates! Frank complained to himself. Again, Frank was baffled. The thoughts, more debates, were waning and ebbing inside of him. He wanted to trust his own research results. He had gone over his research results and they all suggested that beyond the reasonable doubt, the DNA sequences identified by the AI model could determine the behavior of a person. There were no questions about the discrimination power of the sequences. But how could that be possible that a person¡¯s behavior be determined by just sequences in the DNA? A person had no learning capability, no ability to adjust his/her own behavior? He could accept that might be the case for lower animals for the lack of higher consciousness. Could that be true also for human with such a well-developed higher consciousness? Frank was getting nowhere in his own debates inside his head. The thoughts overwhelmed his conscience. And as his thoughts crystalized within him, he sank further into his chair, and further into a bottomless pit. He shook his head. This was too much for a day¡¯s work. He shook his head again to wake himself up. He walked out of his office and did not even bother to take his briefcase home. He had enough for the day. Vol.3 Chap.7 Mutation is the key ***** Vol.3 Chap.7 Mutation is the key ***** For an entire week, Frank could not shake off the questions that were buzzing in his brain. So, at the following team meeting, he attempted to solicit responses to his doubts. As he announced a week ago about Mark joining the team, the four were huddled in Frank¡¯s office. ¡°Margaret, JB. Before I begin, I just want to welcome Mark to the team,¡± said Frank. ¡°Mark, you may have already met Dr. Margaret Tomash from the Department of Genetics and, of course, you know JB here.¡± ¡°Hello, Dr. Tomash. Pleased to meet you. Hi JB, good to be working together.¡± ¡°OK, now that we are done with the formalities, Mark, we initiate our new member by posing challenging questions for answers. So today, we will repeat our tradition.¡± Frank began. ¡°I know you worked with artificial creatures and not with real human DNA. Fine. Here is the question. JB had a generative AI model using most of the DNA sequence to predict violent behaviors exhibited by individuals. We know the DNA sequence of offsprings are formed by combining the male half with the female half during fertilization. Occasionally, an unacceptable pairing occurs. We call this a mismatch. The resultant behavior became unpredictable¡­¡± ¡°That is mutation,¡± interjected Mark excitedly. ¡°We call this mutation.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± remarked Margaret. ¡°I knew that,¡± said JB coldly. ¡°What is mutation?¡± asked Frank. ¡°In my program, acquired traits are passed on from one generation to another generation. Since the computer is exact, the passing on of genetic information is also exact so that all offspring will have the same traits as the parents. To implement the influence of mutation, I randomly change bits in the computer structure that contain the information passed from the parent to the offspring, thus introducing a random element into the offspring.¡± What was said piqued Frank¡¯s interest. Marck continued, ¡°So, what you told me sounds very much like mutation to me. The difference is that in my case, the mutation is non-specific with no respect to location and relationship to the parents.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Being the new kid on the block, Mark was tense and tried to answer Frank as scientifically as possible in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner. ¡°Well, maybe mutation is too strong a word,¡± responded Margaret. ¡°I can¡¯t fathom that there is mutation on such a grand scale in each generation.¡± ¡°But then what Mark said surely explains what is happening here.¡± JB accepted the notion of mutation readily. ¡°If we are talking about mutation in terms of random changes, then we are seeing random changes here. If we are talking about mutation in terms of evolution on a grand scale, then perhaps what we are observing here is too miniscule to explain the grand changes.¡± Frank was trying to be very diplomatic. In truth, he was ambivalent about the idea. While the idea of mutation intrigued him, the idea seemed to have merit in that it seemed to explain the data. However, to accept outright that there were mutations involved all over the DNA chromosome, he found this hard to swallow. ¡°The idea pans out for my artificial creatures,¡± Mark sensed the hesitation and hedged slightly. ¡°Whether that is the case for actual creatures, I cannot say.¡± ¡°Ah, you are learning fast, Mark,¡± said Frank. You will turn out fine. He told himself. ¡°That is true. How do we know that this happens in real life, even though it seems to work for artificial creatures?¡± Margaret said with unbelief. ¡°If the idea explains the data, then the notion must be right. I can¡¯t come up with any other explanations.¡± JB, as impulsive and one-tracked minded as she was, responded immediately. ¡°That we cannot find another explanation does not mean that this explanation is correct.¡± Frank tried to mitigate the situation here. ¡°Occam¡¯s razor!¡± JB retorted. ¡°May be,¡± Frank responded. ¡°Since you are giving a presentation next month in the Annual Meeting of the American Science (AMAS), the best test of our hypothesis is to present the idea and see what the scientific community feels about it.¡± JB suggested. ¡°I am not sure I am ready to release this yet.¡± ¡°We are ready. We have all the data here, and we have all the explanations here. It is time to tell the world about our discovery.¡± ¡°Somehow, I am not sure about the explanations yet.¡± ¡°That is why presenting to AMAS is the perfect time and the perfect meeting to try out the discovery on the scientific community.¡± JB can be very persuasive. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I am ready to accept the ideas we have been discussing here yet.¡± ¡°We are not claiming this is true. We are only presenting the results to the scientific community.¡± ¡°Are we sure that we are on the right track?¡± ¡°The data don¡¯t lie.¡± ¡°What do you think, Margaret?¡± ¡°Well, JB has a point there.¡± There is no help from her. ¡°I still feel uncomfortable about the results. Are we missing anything here?¡± ¡°If the data comes from my artificial creatures, then I have no problem in presenting the data,¡± Mark joined in the persuasion. ¡°OK, if you all feel so strongly about this, I will present the results at the AMAS next month. Good job, guys.¡± Frank reluctantly accepted the task. ¡°But before I go, I would like to be one hundred percent sure about the results. Margaret, can you double check the literature again? JB, can you randomize the samples three more times and tried the program on the new training and testing data again? Mark, I want to know more about your program.¡± ¡°Shall we meet again next week?¡± He concluded the meeting. ¡°OK.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Vol.3 Chap.8 Dreadful results with artificial creatures ***** Vol.3 Chap.8 Dreadful results with artificial creatures ***** After Margaret and JB left the room. Frank turned to Mark. ¡°Mark, your results bothered me, rather, the implication of the results. Sit down. Be comfortable.¡± ¡°JB¡¯s results pointed to the fact that violence was a product of chance in the process of inheritance. Your results seem to suggest that violence is a product of evolution because of survival. So, I have a special favor to ask. Take a few of your creatures and create a violent trait in them, those who attack friend and foe alike. Can that be done?¡± ¡°Easy. If a creature cannot distinguish between its own kinds from predators, then it will attack both types.¡± ¡°Good. Then, based on what we know about mutation, as you called it, program your artificial creatures to have a similar mechanism for passing on this violent behavior from generation to generation. Now run your simulation for a significant number of generations and see what the results are for your artificial creatures?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°OK, thanks.¡± Frank did not have to wait long. After three days, Mark came in with the results looking somewhat disturbed. ¡°Professor Abdulcizi, I¡¯ve got the results on the simulation runs here. Would you like to see them?¡± ¡°Yes, I am anxiously waiting.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Well, I created a special subroutine that caused the creatures to attack everything in sight. I then marked and tagged these creatures with the violent subroutine. Whenever one of these creatures encountered another creature, regardless of whether it was its own kind or a predator, the violent creature will attack and devour the unfortunate one as food.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. That is what I wanted.¡± ¡°Well, according to the simulation, it did not take hundreds of generations before the violent ones completely overtake the entire cyberspace. In most simulations, it only took about a few dozens of generations before all non-violent creatures are driven to extinction.¡± Frank fell back in his chair. ¡°Does that mean that when violence is unchecked, it will take over the world entirely?¡± ¡°It seems so in my artificial world.¡± ¡°OK, that was a little extreme because you only have violent ones and non-violent ones. Now what if there is a varying degree of violence in these creatures? Use a fraction to indicate the percentage of violence and see what you got.¡± ¡°That seems reasonable.¡± After a week, Mark came somberly again with the results. ¡°Essentially, we get the same conclusion as before. Only this time, it takes longer for violent ones to dominate the cyberspace.¡± Mark was careful to emphasize the word ¡®cyberspace.¡¯ ¡°Are you saying that if we have any creatures with a violent trait, then these creatures will always dominate the cyberspace afterwards?¡± ¡°It seems so in my simulations.¡± ¡°OK, thank you Mark. Good work.¡± In subsequent research meetings, Frank kept asking Mark to explore different facets of his creatures and the outcome of the ultimate battle between the neutral creatures and the aggressive creatures. In fact, he was so engrossed that all he wanted to talk about was the creatures, thus devoting the bulk of the research meeting to Mark¡¯s results. Since artificial creatures was not JB¡¯s interest, she just sat there and listened. Now and then, Frank would ask her for a progress report on her program in analyzing other segments of the genome, but JB could not duplicate the magic of previous discovery. Disappointed, Frank just left her alone. After a few weeks, JB almost stopped coming completely. At the beginning, she would make excuses about having a headache, getting a flu, or having an out-of-town guest. Eventually, she just faded out of the picture. Vol.3 Chap.9 Conference presentation ***** Vol.3 Chap.9 Conference presentation ***** Frank had to prepare for his talk at the AMAS and spent countless hours trying to craft the proper words to present. As an old pro, he was not worried about the presenting part since he had done enough presentations in the past. His major concern was the proper way to present the research results because he could not resolve the impact of the implications within himself. After weeks of preparation, he decided to just present the results without comments and let the audience draw their own conclusions. Instead of wrangling over what to say and how to say, he would simply emphasize just a few points of the results of the research. At the AMAS meeting, Frank was one of the plenary speakers. He looked out at the audience and into the hall. It was full, with standing room only. Frank began his talk and reported how his team had obtained the database from subjects who had a history of violent crimes and DNA samples from siblings who did not. In pairing the DNA from the parents, the team hypothesized that any mismatch resulting in an invalid sequence could be repaired by random selection. Using the DNA sequences, the team had found a viable model for predicting ones with violent and normal behavior. Frank kept quiet at those results that Mark did for him privately. No sooner did Frank finish his talk, many hands shot up. ¡°This is preposterous! Are you saying that those with violent behavior got that way purely by chance?¡± Professor Tahati from UCLA asked angrily. ¡°I am only reporting some results that our team has found. I am not ready to make any statement presently.¡± ¡°But your results say that.¡± ¡°Again, I repeat, I am not making any statement at this point. And I would like to add that we must be very careful in making any interpretations at this point. This is only a single experiment and a simple experiment at that. I just want to share our results with you and I hope that many of you can help to further confirm or dis-confirm our results.¡± Frank was as professional as he could be. ¡°This type of research is crazy and unholy. You are trying to play God!¡± ¡°I am just a researcher who stumbled on these results.¡± Another hand shot up in the audience. ¡°Yes.¡± Frank pointed to another hand. ¡°Have you tried using another set of data?¡± ¡°No. We only have one set of data. But we have used standard randomizing techniques to separate the dataset into five distinct sets of training and testing data. Each time, the program converges to the same conclusion.¡± ¡°Another question?¡± Frank pointed to another hand. ¡°Have you checked the computer program to be sure that it is correct?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Of course I did not write the program myself. My post-doc wrote the program. She was very careful in her programming. This is the reason I am reporting these results today, hoping many of you can duplicate the research to see if you all can get the same results as well.¡± Frank was a genuine gentleman here. There were many other technical questions after that. Scientists were trained to be skeptical and to question everything. Frank had to repeat what he had said many times to different people both during the question-and-answer period and during the coffee break time. At the end, he felt happy about the presentation. Dr. Chris Abrahamson, the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), came over and patted Frank at the back. ¡°Frank, that was a great presentation.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°We would like you to be a panel speaker at the upcoming Annual Meeting of AAAS in a few months.¡± ¡°I¡¯m honored. Who else would be at the panel?¡± ¡°Top secret, but I will let you know in due time. Good presentation, Frank. See you at the AAAS conference.¡± ¡°See you there.¡± Overall, it was a very informative conference. Frank attended quite a few sessions and met many people. They all commented on Frank¡¯s presentation, some pleasantly positive while others blatantly negative. Some felt he was at the cutting edge of technology while others jeered, thinking he was crazy by tempering with nature. As a gentleman, he responded to them all just the same, with a smile. Somehow, he always seemed to run into Dr. Chris Abrahamson; and the two had several coffee discussions together. Chris was interested in what he was doing asking him all kinds of details related to his research. Just like any other skeptics, Chris was also dubious about the implications of his research. Not that he was negative about his research. He was genuinely interested and curious, but completely apprehensive about the implications of the outcome. Frank came back from the conference with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was happy about the opportunity to present the team¡¯s research material, but the questions and discussions with top scientific minds in the country also left him with several perspectives that he had not had the time to consider. As soon as he got back from the conference, he fired off a bunch of emails to his research team and set a time for a team discussion. But when he looked at his calendar, he noticed he was already heavily booked for meetings already. He knew that whenever he left on a conference; the work did not disappear, only piled up for his return. He sighed because he would rather devote his whole time to research, interacting with his students, but unfortunately there were other nonproductive work, as he called them, that he must attend to. Looking at his calendar, there was a meeting with the departmental curriculum committee in late morning, then an advisory meeting with a master degree student for his colleague, another meeting with the University Academic Council in the late afternoon. Well, the day was shot for him. For the following day, the calendar showed a class in the morning and a departmental meeting in the afternoon. Not good. Flipping the calendar to another day, he had office hours in the morning and another seminar in the afternoon. He kept flipping his calendar, and every day was full of meetings and appointment. Eventually, he settled for the following week at the regularly scheduled research meeting time to get the team together. Before his memory of the conference faded away and his attention distracted by the daily affairs, he emailed his research team the thoughts from the conference. To Research Team, The conference was great, and I wished that you all were there. Presentation was well received, thanks to JB¡¯s results. There were many questions after the presentation. Some I could answer, but many more I could not. The technical ones, I could answer. But the philosophical ones were too difficult for me to answer. Hence, I would jot down some points brought out at the conference so that you all can consider these questions in the meantime. I would like to set aside the next research meeting for a good brainstorming session on these points.
  1. If we have found the genetic sequences for predicting violent behavior, can we extrapolate to say that there would be a genetic basis for all behavior?
  2. Is behavior totally genetically based?
  3. Is it possible to repair the genetic defect?
  4. If a genetic defect cannot be repaired, is it moral to select an offspring based on the prediction of the genetic code?
  5. Does nurture play a part besides nature?
  6. Can nurture overcome nature?
  7. Would ¡­
There was a knock on the door. Frank quickly hit the Send Button without finishing his email. Vol.3 Chap.10 Disaster strikes ***** Vol.3 Chap.10 Disaster strikes ***** ¡°Come in!¡± Frank yelled. Dr. Jim Thomas, the department chair, came in without a word. His coming was unusual and his being grave was even more unusual. ¡°Hi, Jim. Have a seat.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°To what do I owe the honor of this visit?¡± Frank joked in a good mood, not having picked up on Jim¡¯s serious attitude. ¡°Frank, how was your conference?¡± ¡°Very interested. There were many good sessions and excellent papers presented.¡± ¡°Did you have a time to relax?¡± ¡°Are you serious? The conference was packed with sessions and papers. There were two sessions in the morning with a plenary talk. Then there were another two sessions in the afternoon with another plenary talk. I am quite worn out from the trip. How are things back home?¡± ¡°We make do.¡± Just small talk. Finally, Frank sensed that there was something in the air. Besides, one did not get a visit from the department chair casually and Jim was never one to go around chitchatting with everyone. Frank waited. A pause in the conversation. ¡°Frank, let me come straight to the point.¡± Here it comes. He said to himself. ¡°There were several complaints from students that you were gone too much this semester and were not taking your classes seriously.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°How can that be? I have only been gone twice this semester and during both times, I have asked JB to cover my classes. You know, she always covers my classes whenever I am gone.¡± ¡°Nobody covered your classes all last week.¡± The bomb shell exploded. Frank was shocked, sitting there with mouth wide open! ¡°Nobody?¡± ¡°No one.¡± Another pause. Jim continued, ¡°The students came and waited for half an hour in both classes. Eventually, they came to the office inquiring about where you are. We at the office knew you were gone to a conference, but we did not know what arrangements you have made to cover for your classes.¡± ¡°I was in a big hurry when I left and forgot to send you an email. I did ask JB to cover my classes.¡± ¡°No one came to cover your classes all last week. Some students complained to the Dean, and I heard one student got so mad he wrote a letter to the State Regents.¡± ¡°What?¡± Frank was stunned. ¡°Frank, this is big.¡± ¡°Jim, you knew that JB always covered my classes when I was gone?¡± ¡°We checked with JB and she told us you said nothing to her.¡± What? You gotta be kidding! ¡°I told her verbally right when I was leaving.¡± ¡°She said she knew nothing about taking your class.¡± ¡°She knew I was gone to a conference. She knew¡­¡± Jim held out his hand. ¡°Frank, Frank. I am not the judge nor the jury. Not only is the Dean¡¯s office looking at this, even the President¡¯s Office is involved as well. I thought I would just warn you about what is happening.¡± Frank sat there, shaking his head, shocked and unbelieving. ¡°I told JB to cover for my classes. I told JB to do it.¡± Frank muttered underneath his breath. ¡°Frank, most likely the Dean will have a talk with you about the incident. But it is not clear at this point whether the President¡¯s office would ask for a hearing or not?¡± ¡°A hearing? You gotta be kidding!¡± ¡°A hearing from the Academic Appeals Board. Apparently, the complaint letter sent to the Regents was forwarded to the President¡¯s office. The President forwarded that to the Academic Appeals Board, and the letter was used as the basis for a class action complaint. Having no instructor showing up for an entire week tended to disturb a lot of students who paid lots of money for tuition.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± ¡°Some considered that it was more ridiculous that you did not show up for class.¡± ¡°JB was supposed to take my class. She knew that.¡± ¡°Still, JB is not on the faculty. You are. You are responsible for the classes.¡± Resigned to the inevitable, ¡°Well, what can I do?¡± ¡°Nothing. What was done was done. Just hope that you have a better excuse than what you gave me. I know you are an excellent teacher, but I am not sure the Academic Appeals Board would be that forgiving now that the State Regents are involved. They will watch diligently what is going on. So is the President¡¯s Office.¡± Frank cursed underneath his breath. ¡°Do we know who wrote the letter to the Regents?¡± ¡°No, it was anonymous. Even if I knew, I could not and would not tell you.¡± Baffled, Frank cursed under his breath again. ¡°Well, I got to take care of a few other things. I thought I would just warn you about what is happening.¡± Jim turned to leave, shaking his head. ¡°Thanks, Jim.¡± Vol.3 Chap.11 Broken communication ***** Vol.3 Chap.11 Broken communication ***** Frank sat in his chair and pondered about the impending fiasco without comprehension. JB had been very faithful so far. There were many times that she even offered to take his class without asking. He tried to recall if he had told JB to take his class this time and clearly remembered he and JB were walking out to the car the day of his departure and he specifically asked JB to take his classes. Unmistakably, she said yes. I must sort this out with JB. Though it was almost time for his next meeting, he wanted to stop by JB¡¯s office and clear this whole thing up. Heading to her office, the door was closed. He knocked. No answer. He knocked again. No answer. He tried the door; it was locked. He put his ear to the door and heard someone typing on the keyboard. ¡°JB? Are you in there?¡± The typing stopped, but still no answer. He knocked again. No answer. Seeing the time of the meeting was approaching, he left wondering what had happened to JB. The day disappeared quickly with meetings and he was tired when he finally got back to his office. Several messages on the phone waited for him, including one from the Dean¡¯s office and another one from a Dr. Summer representing the Academic Appeals Board. Amazed and flabbergasted that people on the campus wasted no time to stomp on him, the victim. It is after quitting time. Wait till tomorrow. Frank packed up his papers and his laptop computer. His eyes felt on a stack of test papers to be graded. He grabbed those as well. The students would be screaming for the test results in the next class. He sighed. More chores to bring home. Life became so mundane suddenly. Another lost evening occupied with grading papers! Before leaving the building, he stopped by JB¡¯s office again. He knew she normally worked late. The door was closed. Before he knocked, he put his ear to the door and heard someone typing on the keyboard. She had to be in there. Frank knocked and called out to JB. ¡°JB, are you in there?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. No answer. ¡°JB, I know you are in there. I just want to catch up with you.¡± No sound. ¡°JB!¡± Frank knocked again. Silence. ¡°JB! I know you are in there. Please open the door?¡± Nothing. Frank waited for five more minutes and thought he heard someone resumed the typing. He realized she did not want to talk to him, although he did not know why. Picking up his briefcase, he went home baffled. The day had started off so beautifully, but as the day wore on, it got uglier and uglier. Typically, Frank would stop by the faculty club for a nice dinner, but today, he lost all his appetite and went straight home, grabbing some Chinese takeout along the way instead. At home, Frank relaxed in his nice oversized armchair and turned on the television for the evening news. He was not really listening. There was the typical local news about traffic accidents and the local school bond issues. However, his ears perked up at a news bulletin about a boat that sank in the Bermuda Triangle. What was so unusual was that the entire event was witnessed by a pilot of a small chartered airplane. The plane was flying over the area. The pilot got on the air and gave a minute-by-minute description of the entire event. Naturally, the television station kept replaying the taped conversation. ¡­ a lot of foaming. The entire area is white with foam bubbling with some kind of gas. We are flying about five thousand feet high and our plane can still feel the turbulence from the gaseous discharge. The small boat is listing critically and bopping up and down like a tossed rag doll. This is not good. The boat is taking on water. No, the boat is listing to its side. Ooh, a giant bubble burst near the boat, throwing it to the other side. I see two people in the boat waving at us. They are calling for help. Oh, another giant bubble burst near the front of the boat¡­ Frank looked up to listen. ¡­No, no. The boat disappears. Somebody calls the Coast Guard. Somebody calls for help. According to my GPS, the exact location is 25 degrees 36 minutes North by 78 degrees 15 minutes West. I cannot get more accurate than this. Repeat, my exact location is 25 degrees 36 minutes North by 78 degrees 15 minutes West. I will stay here a little longer to see if there are any survivors. I only have enough fuel to stay here for a few minutes. Again, I repeat. My location is 25 degrees 36 minutes North by 78 degrees 15 minutes West. A boat just sank at this location¡­ And here we have the breaking news for the evening. We have contacted the Coast Guard who said that rescue efforts are underway. An anonymous source claims that the rescue of the two boaters is highly unlikely given the location and the weather. As more news becomes available, we will keep you updated on this. Reporting for CNN, I am¡­ Frank felt sorry for the boat and the occupants, but he himself had enough excitement already for one day. Quickly finishing his Chinese takeout, he concentrated on grading the test papers. Though he stopped many times and wanted to just fling the papers down the stairs and gave them the grade depending on where the paper landed. The students were just not as astute as before. In the earlier years of his career, the students were a lot more conscientious and a lot more diligent than now. The students in this class just wanted a grade and cared much less what or if they learned anything. And they had the audacity to complain? Frank was getting mad. The more he looked at the paper and his mind dwelled on the complaint, the madder he got. He finally put the papers down and fixed himself a drink. He walked over to his exercise bike and pedaled furiously. After about fifteen minutes of exercising, he felt his frustration was manageable. Whether it was the alcohol or the exercise that calmed him down, he was not sure. Time to return to grading. When papers were graded, he was ready for bed. As his habit, he would turn on the television and catch any news update. Only a short bulletin from the Coast Guard was on the evening news saying that they had located a vessel that was closest to the stated location. The ship was a research vessel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There was a submersible on board of the research vessel and they would attempt to rescue the passengers and raised the boat. It has been a long day. Frank was worn out from the trip and from the events of the day. He slept soundly. Vol.3 Chap.12 Mayhem at the office ***** Vol.3 Chap.12 Mayhem at the office ***** When Frank arrived at the office the next day, all the secretaries were watching out for him to come in. Even before he had the chance to open his office door, Mary, the receptionist from the office, had already spotted him and sprinted after him with a stack of phone messages. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, Dr. Abdulcizi!¡± Mary called after him. Frank stopped for her to catch up with him. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, I¡¯ve got a bunch of phone messages for you.¡± ¡°Well, somebody¡¯s been busy this morning.¡± ¡°They are all from Dr. Summer of the Academic Appeals Board. She wanted me to pass on the message for you to call her as soon as you come in.¡± ¡°OK, thanks. Any other urgent business?¡± ¡°Nope. Here is Dr. Summer¡¯s phone number.¡± Mary gave him a whole wad of phone messages and trotted back to the departmental office triumphantly having performed her duties. Frank trudged back to his office. As he entered, he noticed the blinking red message light on his phone. Shaking his head, he set his briefcase down and lazily sat down in his chair. Reaching over and pressing the speakerphone button, he entered his personal code for the phone playback. There were three phone messages, one from yesterday and two from this morning. ¡°Hello, Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Dr. Summer from the Academic Appeals Board. Please call me as soon as possible on extension 3502? Thank you.¡± ¡°Hello, Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Dr. Summer again. I guess I missed you yesterday. Please call me this morning? It is urgent. My extension is 3502. Thank you.¡± ¡°Hello, Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Dr. Summer. It is crucial for me to talk to you this morning. Please call me as soon as you come in? My extension is 3502¡­¡± He heard a few mumbles as if Dr. Summer was talking to someone else when she was replacing the handset. He wanted to take care of this ¡®crisis¡¯ immediately so that he could get back to his research. He fumbled around the phone messages and located Dr. Summer¡¯s phone number. As he was reaching out to the telephone, the phone rang at the same instant. He had a hunch who that might be. Annoyed, he let the phone ring four times and picked it up right before the answering machine kicked in. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Pam from the Dean¡¯s Office.¡± ¡°Hi Pam, what can I do for you today?¡± ¡°Dean Cherry would like to schedule a meeting with you today.¡± ¡°Sure. When is he free?¡± ¡°Well, it looks like he has an opening this afternoon at 3:30. If that is not convenient, he could meet with you after hours like 5:30.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Let me check my schedule, Pam.¡± Frank took his phone scheduler out. ¡°You said today at 3:30 or 5:30?¡± ¡°Yup¡± ¡°Let me see. At 3:30, I have office hours. I don¡¯t think I want to miss that.¡± ¡°No, definitely not. Then how about 5:30?¡± Pam was a very efficient secretary at the Dean¡¯s office. ¡°Looks clear on this end.¡± ¡°Great, I will pass this on to Dean Cherry. He will expect you at 5:30 this afternoon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be there.¡± ¡°Thank you, bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Frank put his phone down. He told himself that he needed a good lullaby this time. The phone rang again. He picked up the phone. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± A strange voice came over the phone. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°This is Dr. Sabinski from the National Science Foundation.¡± ¡°Hello, Dr. Sabinski. This is Frank speaking.¡± ¡°I heard your talk at the AMAS Meeting and I was impressed.¡± ¡°Thank you. The results were very preliminary and should not be taken for any extrapolation at all.¡± ¡°I understand. Your work is very interested to me personally.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± ¡°Yes, this is exactly the type of research we like to fund at NSF.¡± ¡°That is good to hear. Two years ago, I put in a proposal to NSF with the Computer Systems Directorate.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°The reviews were excellent, but the reviewers thought this should be funded more appropriately by the National Institute of Health.¡± ¡°Well, since then, we recognized the importance of teaming life scientists and engineers together. Hence, we have recently formed a new subdivision in Intelligent Systems funded jointly by Computer Science and Life Science. And we are looking for projects just like yours to showcase our program.¡± ¡°That is good to hear.¡± ¡°I would like to encourage you to submit a proposal to us.¡± ¡°I love to. When is the deadline?¡± ¡°The deadline for the next round of funding is due in 3 weeks.¡± ¡°That is right around the corner!¡± ¡°I know. That is why I am calling you directly to encourage you to apply.¡± Frank considered the proposal for a minute. Even though he still had two years of funding left in his NIH grant, he knew better than to turn down an offer like this. ¡°Dr. Sabinski, I will be delighted to send in a proposal.¡± ¡°I thought you would. I¡¯ll be looking forward to receiving your proposal.¡± ¡°It will be there.¡± ¡°Well, have a good day.¡± ¡°Thank you and goodbye.¡± That was certainly a welcomed call and reprieve on what had appeared so far to be a very bleak day. He slowly set the handset back on his desk phone. He savored the moment because not every day that you had people coming to you with money just for the asking. Of course, he still had to ask, but he knew he could now fund Mark¡¯s research for another 3 years. His subconscious mind was already busy writing the proposal in the background. He felt much happier than five minutes ago. The phone rang again. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± Another strange voice on the phone. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°This is Dr. Summer.¡± Frank¡¯s heart sank. ¡°Yes, Dr. Summer. I had a bunch of phone calls this morning. Sorry, I did not get back to you right away.¡± ¡°That is OK. As you know, I am the chair of the Academic Appeals Board.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We have received a complaint from several students. We would like to meet with you for a preliminary hearing with the committee members assigned to handle your case. Would you be available later this week or early next week?¡± ¡°If we can put off till early next week, then that is the best for my schedule.¡± ¡°No problem. How about Monday at 9:00am?¡± ¡°Let me check.¡± Frank whipped out his phone scheduler. ¡°Next Monday at 9:00am is no good. I have a Master Student defense at the same time. I am free the week after at the same time?¡± ¡°Well, that might work, but I don¡¯t want to wait that long. How about this Friday at 4:00 pm?¡± ¡°Let me check. Yes, this Friday at 4:00 is clear.¡± ¡°Great. I will email you the details as soon as I can reserve a room.¡± ¡°Is there anything that I need to prepare?¡± ¡°Not really. This is only a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough justification for a full hearing.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon. Thank you for your cooperation.¡± ¡°Sure, you bet.¡± Frank hanged up the phone pondering about his surmise, unsure if he felt happy or sad. On one hand, this could be a joyous day because NSF came to him with an invitation for a proposal. Usually, that means a decent proposal would be funded without question. Yet a hearing by the Academic Appeals Board hearing looming over his head certainly dampened anyone¡¯s spirit. But even more so, there was this dark cloud hanging over his head. Why did JB deliberately miss his lectures and refuse to talk to him now? In the past, he knew he had a good rapport with the students. Who would complain so loudly about the missed lectures? He could not make sense out of the situation. He shook his head and tried to put the day behind him. Vol.3 Chap.13 The unexpected ***** Vol.3 Chap.13 The unexpected ***** Frank had another meeting to go to. He picked up some papers and headed out the door. Turning the corner, it looked to him like JB disappeared into her office. Being too far to yell down the hallway, he hastened his steps and hurried down the hallway. Stopping at the office, he asked Mary. ¡°Was that JB who just came by?¡± ¡°Yes, Dr. Abdulcizi.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Frank hurried towards JB¡¯s office. JB¡¯s door was closed. He knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer. He knocked again. ¡°JB, are you there?¡± No answer. ¡°JB, I like to talk to you.¡± No answer. Frank walked away, perplexed. After the meeting, Frank made his way to the Dean¡¯s office. Dean Cherry was already there waiting. He took a puff on his pipe. When he saw Frank coming in, he stood up and walked to the door. With extended hand, he shook Frank¡¯s hand warmly. ¡°Frank, come in.¡± ¡°Thanks, Dean Cherry. What can I do for you today?¡± Dean Cherry closed the door and motioned for Frank to sit down on the couch. ¡°Well, I heard about the trouble with your classes last week. I know you are one of our best teachers in the college. So, I like to learn firsthand from you what had happened.¡± ¡°I had to go to a conference last week. Right before I left for the meeting, I asked JB to take my classes. In the past, she always did that for me. Apparently, there must be a miscommunication.¡± ¡°I heard no one was there for both class periods.¡± ¡°JB knew where I was going, although I don¡¯t think the office knew where I was staying. I forgot to send them an email.¡± ¡°No one contacted you during the conference?¡± ¡°No one, otherwise I would have made other arrangements. I was under the impression that JB was taking my classes.¡± ¡°Frank, I believe you. I will support you as much as I can. But you know that this case got the President¡¯s ear and the State Regent¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°There is only that much that I can do. If the State Regents and the President ask me, I will tell them you are one of the best faculty members in the college. But the decision of any actions does not depend on me, but lies with the Academic Appeals Board and the Provost.¡± ¡°Thank you for your support. I understand.¡± ¡°I just want to forewarn you.¡± ¡°What can they do, Dean Cherry?¡± ¡°Anything from making up classes, adding extra classes, to even dismissal.¡± ¡°You are kidding!¡± ¡°No, Frank. I am glad that we have this little chat. I hope from now on, you always leave a paper trail behind you.¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that was necessary!¡± ¡°Trust me. Always cover your back.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dean Cherry.¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± He stood up and patted Frank on his shoulder. Frank met with his class the following day and no one spoke anything about the missed classes, so neither would he. Frank determined that the best way to handle the crisis was to put his heart and soul into lecturing. He mentioned nothing about the complaint; rather, he put extra efforts in preparing his lectures. He made the lectures as interesting as possible. He engaged the students in the classroom and challenged them in the lectures. Several students came to him afterwards and commented on his lectures. He tried not to outguess who the troublesome students were. He treated all of them equally with respect and courtesy. After another engaging lecture towards the end of the week, a student followed him to his office and confessed to Frank that he wrote the complaint letter with two other students. The student was hesitant to send in the letter at first because he considered him to be the best teacher. The student just wanted to apologize to Frank for having done what was done. Frank was very careful in answering the student and only asked him to do what was right without telling him what to do. After the student left, Frank considered and reconsidered the situation a great deal. He knew he was not a poor teacher. He genuinely cared about the students. In fact, the whole time he was away, he was concerned about his classes. He felt asking JB to cover for his classes was much better than asking the teaching assistants. To him, JB should be able to give a better lecture. JB had always been faithful; she was always someone he could count on. Thus, for her not to show up for his classes baffled him. Furthermore, he did not understand why she would not see him recently. Perhaps she was ashamed because she failed to take the classes? As Frank considered the matter further, he felt he ought to do something related to the Academic Appeals Board. He did not want a word pitting game between JB and him. Neither did he want to put the blame on her. But the matter had gotten the ears of the State Regents and the President of the university; hence, it could not be dismissed easily. If there was any way to salvage the situation without damaging the relationship with her, he would like to know. He thought of just saying that he forgot to arrange for a substitute teacher, but that would not look good on his records. But if he said he had asked JB who failed to show up, then it would be his word against hers. That did not appear like a viable solution, either. After considering the matter for a while, he had the deep sensation that the best is to write a detailed account of what happened with no bias and sent the account to the Academic Appeals Board. He would mention that he asked JB to take his class, but would soften the blow by admitting that he did not double check with JB after the first class to see what had happened. He would admit that he should have kept closer communication with JB about the classes during his time of absence at the conference. He typed out a detailed account of the events. After he drafted the account and read it over several times, he was satisfied and forwarded the draft to the Academic Appeals Board before heading home. The next morning, when Frank came back into the office, there was already a phone message waiting for him. It was from Dr. Summer. What now? Frank muttered to himself. Frank was not that eager to pick up the phone to call her. He figured that she probably just wanted to remind him of the Academic Appeals Board meeting. He dreaded the return call. Instead, he took care of other pressing matters and the stack of mail and emails that had been accumulating on the desk and in his email account. After finishing that, he had to read through the thesis of one of his master degree¡¯s students. The writing was so bad that after reading and correcting the grammar for two pages, Frank got exhausted and sent the manuscript back to the student with a stern rebuke and a strong exhortation to take the draft to a professional technical writer. The phone rang. ¡°Hello!¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°This is Dr. Summer.¡± ¡°Yes. I got your phone message, but was too tied up to return your call.¡± ¡°No problem. In fact, it was good that you did not call.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I called earlier this morning just to remind you of the Academic Appeals Board meeting.¡± ¡°Yes, I have it on my calendar.¡± ¡°There has been a change in the case.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°The State Regents received an apology letter this morning from the same three students who wrote the complaint. They had withdrawn the complaint and said that you were, in fact, an excellent teacher. After coming off a terrible examination with another class that day, when you were out of town, they wrote the complaint in haste and took their anger out on you. They sincerely apologized for their actions.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Frank was surprised and relieved. ¡°Since the complaint was withdrawn, we do not need to proceed with the case. The Board had also read your detailed account and determined that there was no further need for more investigation.¡± ¡°That is very nice to hear.¡± ¡°We are sorry to have put you through any troubles the past week, and I hope you understand.¡± ¡°Now that everything is resolved, no trouble at all.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Thank you, and have a good day.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Frank sat back and gave out a long sigh! Case closed. Even so, a fear within him lingered. Did JB intentionally not take his classes for him? Dark clouds seemed to gather around him. Vol.3 Chap.14 Camaraderie slowly cracking ***** Vol.3 Chap.14 Camaraderie slowly cracking ***** For the time being, Frank¡¯s life returned to normal, at least for a few days. But at the back of his mind, a dark cloud still hovered over him. In the meantime, there were other pressing commitments, taking up his time for the better part of the rest of the week. Before he could come to his senses, the week was over and it was time for another research meeting that he had asked for right after he came back from the conference. JB showed up late for the research meeting. ¡°Overall, it was a good presentation,¡± Frank reported to the team about the presentation. ¡°Most of the questions were reasonable ones. But Professor Tahati from UCLA was skeptical about the results presented and was belligerent against any extrapolation of the results at all.¡± ¡°JB,¡± Frank turned to JB, ¡°someone asked about the program and I didn¡¯t know what to tell him.¡± ¡°What did he ask?¡± A blunt response. ¡°He was wondering about the accuracy of the program. I told him that the best way to check out our program is for everyone else to duplicate our answers.¡± ¡°There is nothing wrong with my program.¡± JB shuffled her feet defensively. Frank detected a hint of anxiety in the voice but decided not to pursue it. ¡°Well, Dr. Abrahamson, the President of AAAS, came over and talked to me after the presentation. He wanted me to be in a panel discussion. But he would not tell me who else would be on the panel. So, I want to be sure about the results and the facts before I go to this panel.¡± ¡°We can rerun the results, but they will be the same because I have rechecked and rerun the results thrice,¡± said JB as-a-matter-of-factly. ¡°No, that is unnecessary. I would like to use another database. I would like to repeat everything we have done in the past few weeks on a new database.¡± ¡°Any thoughts, Margaret?¡± ¡°To me, I admit I am not totally convinced, either. But the more we tried the idea on different data, the more confidence we will gain.¡± ¡°Can we do that, JB?¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Ok, I have a short time frame on this because the panel discussion is in a few months. So, give me any results, even partial results, as soon as you have them. Don¡¯t wait for the weekly meetings.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± A lack-luster answer. ¡°I have some good news for us today.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°We need all the good news that we can get,¡± Margaret said. ¡°Dr. Sabinski from the National Science Foundation called me and suggested that we submit a proposal on the things that we are doing.¡± ¡°Wow, they called you?¡± Margaret was surprised. ¡°Yes, I was surprised, too. Anyway, we also have a very short time frame in submitting the proposal as well.¡± ¡°What are you planning on proposing?¡± Margaret asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyone have any suggestions?¡± They all looked at one another. ¡°Margaret? JB? Mark?¡± ¡°Genetic decoding.¡± JB did not hesitate. No one else seemed to come up with anything. Frank waited for a little while. ¡°Well, genetic decoding is certainly worth considering. If no one else has any ideas, I suggest we write up something related to what Mark was doing. First, this is for the National Science Foundation and not for the National Institute of Health, so we must emphasize a little more on the science aspect of this research. Second, Mark needs support to continue his post-doc.¡± JB pouted with an ugly face in disapproval. ¡°I suggest we task Mark to write the proposal with the budget going to Mark for his full-time post doc and the rest of the budget for the rest of us. How does that sound?¡± Frank felt a sense of dismay and disapproval from JB. ¡°We need to write another proposal on what we are doing on the genetic coding.¡± JB countered. ¡°We could. But since we still have two more years on the NIH grant, and I am at a loss on what additional research direction we are going to go at the moment, it might be wise to wait a little on this first. Margaret?¡± ¡°We can always do more genetic coding. But isn¡¯t it that NSF wants more science than genome research? NSF has relegated the genome research largely to NIH.¡± Margaret came to the rescue. ¡°JB?¡± Frank asked. JB sat quietly, scowling. Frank waited for a few tense moments. Then turning to Mark, ¡°Mark, what would you propose?¡± ¡°There are a lot of areas that need to be explored.¡± Mark replied, highly engaged. ¡°Enlighten us.¡± ¡°While cracking the genetic code is important and worthwhile, the progress is slow and difficult. Billions of years have gone into developing the human genome. It is the most complex coding we have today on this earth. To learn the workings of such a complex mechanism when the science is still in its infancy is ¡®mission impossible¡¯ to me.¡± Frank noticed JB was offended by that remark. Mark continued, ¡°I favor taking a small system in a controlled environment such as my artificial creatures and propose working on the social impact based on some simple genetic traits¡­¡± Mark was about to go on and on. ¡°Hold on Mark.¡± Frank stopped him. ¡°Every topic you said can be a proposal and a PhD dissertation. They are all worthwhile projects to do. To me, there is an overriding factor. I only have enough support for your post-doc for one year. We need a new grant to keep you going for additional years.¡± ¡°Yes, having financial support is important.¡± Mark stopped. ¡°Margaret?¡± ¡°What Mark proposed is interesting and had more to do with science than health. NSF should look on that favorably. JB?¡± ¡°I still think there are many topics in the genome decoding that NSF would be interested in.¡± JB replied bitterly seeing that she lost the battle already. ¡°Why not send two proposals in?¡± Margaret asked. ¡°That¡¯s a thought.¡± Frank responded, pausing for a while. ¡°Given the short time frame, let me propose we do this. We first write up Mark¡¯s stuff and sent that in immediately. Then JB, we can work on your stuff and send that in afterwards. I don¡¯t think we can work on both proposals and do a good job on both within such a short time frame.¡± ¡°That sounds prudent.¡± Margaret said. ¡°I will work on the proposal right away.¡± Mark was elated. ¡°JB?¡± JB shrugged his shoulders. ¡°OK, team, that was excellent discussion and contributions. You all have your assignments. I will work on the budget. Don¡¯t forget the departmental seminar next week.¡± Margaret and JB turned to leave. ¡°JB, can you stay for a minute?¡± ¡°Not really. I got some errands to do.¡± ¡°Could you stop by later in the day?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± JB left quickly. Mark stood up to leave as well. ¡°Oh Mark, just a minute. I like to talk to you about your program again.¡± Vol.3 Chap.15 Fun with artificial creatures ***** Vol.3 Chap.15 Fun with artificial creatures ***** ¡°Last time, you have shown me results that the violent creatures always took over the cyberspace. Do you have a good graphical user interface?¡± ¡°Yes, I have programmed a nice GUI.¡± ¡°Is it possible to watch the creatures at work?¡± ¡°Yes, that is part of my doctoral dissertation.¡± ¡°May I see it with the latest programming?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go get my laptop.¡± Mark was back in a second with his laptop under his arms. ¡°Let me start my program. It will take a few seconds.¡± ¡°Take your time.¡± After a few minutes, Mark got the computer booted up and started his program. The screen came alive. There were all kinds of numbers and cryptic symbols all over the screen. At the center of the screen, there was a big display with little symbols around the window. ¡°The center display is the world for the creatures. The green dots represent the normal creatures and the red dots represent the violent creatures, and the triangles represent the predators and the circles represent food deposits. You can see that initially all icons are strewn uniformly over the space.¡± ¡°Ok¡± ¡°The rules are quite simple. The creatures will search for food and attack predators. When enough food is ingested, they reproduce. For the violent creatures, they will attack and ingest anyone. For the normal creatures, they will only attack the predators. Shall we start?¡± ¡°Just a minute. What are these numbers at the top?¡± ¡°This number shows the count of normal creatures. The number next to it shows the count of violent creatures. This number here at the corner shows the number of predators left.¡± ¡°Is the amount of food limited or is food unlimited?¡± ¡°For this simulation, the location of food is fixed but unlimited, i.e. food sources cannot be exhausted.¡± ¡°How many creatures do we start with?¡± ¡°How many creatures do you want to start with?¡± ¡°OK, give me five normals, one violent, and two predators.¡± Mark hit a key and a brand-new menu showed up. He adjusted a few parameters here and there. ¡°You say five normals?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°And two violent ones? ¡°Nope, just one.¡± ¡°OK, done. Shall we start the simulation?¡± ¡°Go.¡± On the display, the creatures moved around, searching for food and reproducing. The violent one also searched for food and reproduced, as well. For a while, the population of the creatures increased proportionately. Soon, the creatures encountered the predators. The creatures ganged up together, and the predators were soon eliminated. Mark explained, ¡°The battle outcome between the creatures and the predators is set randomly. Right now, there is an equal probability in a battle between a single creature and a single predator. But when two creatures gang up together against the predator, the odds for the creatures to win are enhanced. The creatures will survive most of the time.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Since there are more creatures than predators, eventually all the predators are eliminated. This is inevitable.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Now come the interesting part. You see here that the normal creatures will not attack another creature, but the violent ones would. So, whenever there is an encounter between a normal creature with a violent one, half the time, the violent one will win. But when there are two violent ones against a normal one, most of the time, the normal one will be outnumbered and thus eliminated.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± Frank kept watching the screen and seeing the little creatures going back and back carrying on their normal activities. Of course, they did not know that Frank was watching them. The little creatures were just going about their normal business of ingesting food and reproducing. They had no consciousness of their existence. In fact, they had no consciousness at all. They existed only in Mark¡¯s computer, in Frank¡¯s world, in a computer file, and they could be saved and replayed at any time again from the same time frame. To Frank, the creatures were so free, with no worries. They did not have to work nor to put up with all the things he had to put up with, no meetings, no examinations, no correcting examinations, and no putting up with students begging for grade. They did not have to do research or give presentations. In fact, they did not have to do anything at all. Their lives were completely provided for. Food was always there in unlimited supply. They did not have to worry about what to eat, did not have to plant, to water, to grow, to harvest food, did not have to buy groceries nor to cook the food. They had got it made. Frank was jealous. Why can¡¯t our lives be just as simple? How beautiful life would be if there were no violence, no greed, and no ugliness. How nice life would be if there were no criminals, no liars, and no cheaters! What would life be like if everyone was nice and courteous to one another, if no one cheated and no one stole from others? What would New York and California be like if there were no gangs? What would the world be like if there were no racial discriminations? Would we still need politics, or religion, or the police? Could we do without the army, the navy, the air force, and the marines? Could we dismantle all the FBIs and the CIAs around the entire world? How nice it would be to live in such a world. Could this world be so perfect? ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± Frank was lost in his thoughts in his version of utopia and his view of an ideal world that he did not want to be disturbed. The world he saw in his mind was too beautiful, too wonderful, and too serene to be wrestled away from. Could it be possible that such a world exists? Could it exist with other living things on this earth? Could it possibly exist in another dimension? In another time frame? In another world? If so, how could he get there? He wondered if life on earth was also a program running in some cosmic computer? He shuddered at that thought. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi!¡± Mark shouted a little louder. ¡°Oh sorry, I was quite absorbed in your little creatures.¡± ¡°Yeah. I had spent hours and hours watching them, as well. Should I turn the graphics off to speed up the simulation?¡± ¡°Yes, go ahead.¡± Mark paused the simulation. Then he hit a key on the laptop and brought up the control screen. ¡°I am setting the display to show the state of the creatures at every 10 generations.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The display now was a little jerky. But Frank could see that the whole cyberspace was now bifurcated. Part of the screen was controlled by normal creatures with their own food supply. Then another part of the screen was controlled by violent creatures, also with their own food supply. Occasionally, there were some skirmishes between the group of normal and violent creatures now and then. But overall, the creatures kept themselves in their own respective groups. ¡°So far, so good,¡± thought Frank. There seemed to be a truce between the two groups. At least on the surface, things appeared to be calm. But Frank knew that the serenity was only temporary at best. He knew the outcome since Frank told him already. ¡°Now, I want to speed up the simulation some more,¡± said Mark. ¡°OK.¡± Frank pulled the control screen up and adjusted the parameters. ¡°I am setting the screen display to show at every 100 generations.¡± ¡°That should be interesting.¡± The display was very choppy now. There was no continuity at all from one display to another. At this speed, the location of each individual creature had no meaning at all. But what was interesting was the size of the population of each group. Slowly, the space occupied by the violent ones increased. Frank watched the numbers showing the number for each group. He saw that the numbers for the normal creatures were decreasing while the numbers for the violent creatures were increasing. Even though Frank knew the results, he was still shocked to see it happening in front of his eyes. ¡°You see here how the number showing the population count for the violent ones is increasing?¡± ¡°Yes, I noticed. That is incredible.¡± ¡°The result was inevitable. The normals would never attack the violent ones. They lived a peaceful life. But whenever there was an encounter between the normal and the violent ones, the violent ones would gradually decimate the normals. At this rate, the normals would be eliminated in about five minutes.¡± Frank sat there and stared at the screen. He looked at the space where the normals lived. Then he looked at the space where the violent ones live. He saw the boundary of demarcation. He saw the border slowly drifting in favor of the violent creatures. In his mind, he saw the battles between the violent ones and the normals. With every encounter between the two groups, a battle ensued. With every battle, the violent creatures won, and the border moved a little more in favor of the violent ones. Sure enough, after about five more minutes, the space where the normals lived completely disappeared. Frank was aghast. He sat back and was in total awe. In fact, he was speechless. The entire population of normal creatures was wiped out only to be replaced completely by violent ones. This happens although there were less violent creatures to start with. In fact, there was only one violent creature to four normal creatures at the beginning of the simulation. ¡°Have you seen enough?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Yes, thank you. This is very enlightening¡­and sad.¡± Although Frank had seen enough, he still did not know how to prepare for the panel discussion. Vol.3 Chap.16 Dangerous extrapolation ***** Vol.3 Chap.16 Dangerous extrapolation ***** During the following weeks, the team had little time to meet at all, although Frank wanted to first discuss his ideas with the team before the panel discussion. Margaret was out of town. She was invited to be a panel reviewer at a study section for one of the NIH programs. JB always seemed to come up with an excuse not to come. On the first week, she explained she was re-examining her program to ensure its accuracy. During the second week, she could not meet because of prior engagements. Frank could never find her at all. However, Mark was always there at the appointed times of the meeting. Frank would ask Mark to make some changes in the parameters in his program and Mark would report back to Frank the simulation results. During one of those meetings, Frank asked Mark, ¡°How close do you think your simulation will apply to real people?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You have shown that violence will eventually dominate. Could this be the future of humankind?¡± ¡°Good question. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Your simulation seems to show that if violence exists, then violence will ultimately dominate over the good.¡± ¡°The simulation seems to suggest that for my creatures.¡± ¡°Would that not be the case in the human society? If there is violence in the society, then eventually violence will dominate?¡± ¡°I hope not.¡± ¡°After all, the Third Law of Thermodynamics says that the entropy, which is a measure of disorder, will always increase.¡± ¡°I know that, but it only applies to thermodynamic systems.¡± ¡°We are also a thermodynamics system but on a much grander scale. Are we not?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I guess so, if you think of it that way.¡± ¡°There are a lot of similarities in your artificial creatures with natural creatures.¡± ¡°True. But I want to remind you that mine are artificial, nevertheless.¡± ¡°Is it possible that we are the artificial creatures in some grand cosmic scheme?¡± ¡°Your guess is as good as mine.¡± ¡°Would there be another experiment or simulation elsewhere in this universe with a fresh set of parameters?¡± ¡°That is an interesting question. I suppose the universe is large enough that there could be multiple experiments going on at the same time.¡± ¡°You really think so?¡± ¡°In fact, there may be multiple experiments going on this planet.¡± A stroke of genius struck Mark. He continued, ¡°What if each species is an experiment in itself? What if we have a monkey experiment, a flatworm experiment, a whale experiment, a bacteria experiment, a tree experiment, a dolphin experiment, and so on and so on?¡± ¡°Now that is an excellent question, Mark?¡± Frank was stumped this time. ¡°What would be the purpose of the experiment, then?¡± ¡°I would not be working for you if I knew the answer. Do you know the answer since you asked the question?¡± ¡°If I know the answer, I would not be asking you! I would not be sitting here in my office!¡± Frank chuckled. They both laughed. In quietness for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. ¡°May be there were no experiment after all,¡± said Mark. ¡°Then where do the species come from?¡± ¡°Maybe it is all accidental, as the evolutionists say. May be the species are here because there are multiple lightning bolts striking the primordial soup with various protein sequences. Each sequence evolving into a different species.¡± ¡°Could be.¡± ¡°Just like many copies of my program running with random parameters set at the beginning.¡± ¡°Well, you got a point there.¡± Frank sat, considering for a while. ¡°But you did not start the program with all random parameters. You first programmed the routines for the creatures to act and behave. You only randomized the degree of violence in your creatures.¡± ¡°That is true.¡± ¡°Then who put the good routines and evil routines in humans there?¡± ¡°Ah ¡­¡± Now Mark got stumped. ¡°Our experiments had shown that the DNA carried the information that we could trace to the degree of violence. But that was not the routine for violence. The violence routine was somewhere in the DNA already, in the chromosome of every person, but the observed behavior depended on the degree coded in the sequenced that we had identified.¡± ¡°From what you have described, there is no difference between the human DNA and my artificial creatures.¡± ¡°So does that mean that your results could apply to humans, then?¡± ¡°I am not sure about the application part. Humans are a lot more complex and have a higher consciousness. My creatures have no consciousness.¡± ¡°Ah, are you suggesting that consciousness plays a part in the outcome of a person¡¯s behavior?¡± ¡°I certainly hope so.¡± ¡°Are you saying that consciousness might be involved in the expression of our behavior?¡± ¡°Most definitely.¡± ¡°In that case, I agree with you as well.¡± ¡°Well, as they say; great minds think alike.¡± ¡°You are right, Mark. I just hope that we think alike as the Supreme Being who created all this.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Vol.3 Chap.17 A falling out ***** Vol.3 Chap.17 A falling out ***** That afternoon, it was one of those rare days that Frank finished his work early. He walked over to JB¡¯s office, hoping to have a chat with her. He knocked on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± He walked in and saw JB working hard on the terminal. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± She said without raising her head. ¡°Oh, nothing much. I am finished with the work for the day and thought I would come over for a chat.¡± ¡°I am quite busy.¡± A blunt reply. Frank looked around. There were papers all over his desk. He casually picked up a manuscript. JB quickly turned around and snapped the manuscript out from him and put it in the desk drawer. ¡°Oh, that is nothing. It is just something I am writing, a documentation of the work that we are doing here.¡± ¡°Well, good documentation is always welcomed.¡± ¡°You were always after me in documenting the work. So, this would be as good a time as any.¡± Somehow, that explanation seemed hollow. ¡°How is everything going for you?¡± Frank asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We kind of missed you in the research meetings the last few weeks.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± ¡°Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, fine.¡± Her terse and shallow tone conveyed much more than her words. Frank was not sure what to say. He sat there silently for a minute. JB turned back to his terminal and pecked away on the keyboard. ¡°What are you working on?¡± ¡°Oh, the last change you requested.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. General answers, nothing specific. ¡°I see.¡± JB typed some more while Frank sat there and watched. ¡°Are you tired of the project?¡± ¡°No, it is very interesting.¡± ¡°We sure like to have more of your inputs in the project and all.¡± ¡°Only if you give me more credit and not steal my ideas.¡± She blurted it out unexpectedly; her face was all red. ¡°What do you mean, JB?¡± ¡°You know what I mean.¡± ¡°No, not really. Can you elaborate some more?¡± ¡°Everything that Mark did was my idea. But he did not even give me any acknowledgement.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± ¡°You heard me.¡± There was bottled anger in the voice. ¡°I am not so sure, JB. We talked about all these ideas in the research meetings. It is everyone¡¯s idea.¡± ¡°That is not what I see.¡± ¡°JB, don¡¯t you feel that both Dr. Tomash and I also contribute to Mark¡¯s work? That is not to mention his own ideas and hard work as well.¡± ¡°All I know is that Mark came to me all the time, and I told him how to do every part of his program.¡± An exaggeration, maybe? Frank wondered. ¡°Are you saying that Mark stole all your ideas?¡± ¡°Did he not publish his dissertation and also submit a paper last week without my name?¡± Frank was flabbergasted and shocked. ¡°First, that was Mark¡¯s dissertation, and he worked hard on his research. Second, the paper was based on his research and he wrote the paper based on his research. I suppose I could talk to Mark and include your name in the paper.¡± ¡°Too late. You have already sent the paper out.¡± She was visibly mad at her answer. ¡°There is still plenty of time to add your name. This is not the final galley proof.¡± JB was silent. ¡°If I recall correctly, the last two papers you¡¯ve submitted, you did not include Mark¡¯s name either.¡± ¡°Mark contributed nothing at all to those two papers.¡± More exaggeration? ¡°He took part as much in the weekly research meetings with ideas for you as much as you have to his research.¡± ¡°Oh, stop it. He stole my ideas, and he plagiarized them.¡± ¡°I am sorry you feel that way.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Is there anything we can do to work this out?¡± ¡°Put my name on every paper in the works and in the future.¡± ¡°We will see about that. I believe in including anyone¡¯s name that has contributed to the paper, not just blindly putting names on the paper.¡± ¡°Too bad you feel that way. Everybody else loads papers with names.¡± ¡°That is not my way. I want to maintain some academic credibility.¡± ¡°Academic credibility? Ha. Since when?¡± He was shocked. They both felt silent for a while. ¡°If you want to leave, I will be happy to write a very good recommendation for you. You have been with me for quite a few years already. It is about time for you to stand on your own feet.¡± ¡°You are right.¡± She returned to the terminal and pecked away on the keyboard. Frank, not having anything else to say, decided to leave. There was not much else to do there, anyway. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see you later.¡± She never lifted her head to acknowledge him. Frank left, not sure what had happened to JB. All the way home, Frank kept replaying the conversation with her and all his dealings with her the past two years. Was there any hint from what she did or said that he had not noticed? Eventually, he gave up. He tried his best to be honest and righteous, giving credit where it is due. He tried to maintain his integrity as much as possible. But apparently, there are some who are not happy with his way of doing things. Vol.3 Chap.18 Conference reception ***** Vol.3 Chap.18 Conference reception ***** The Annual Conference of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) was held at the downtown Marriot Hotel in Miami, and the ballroom was crowded with conference attendees. The pre-conference reception with free hors d¡¯oeuvre and drinks was always a welcomed event. Besides, no one passed up free food and drinks. To Frank, while he enjoyed the food, it was the chance to be reacquainted with old friends and the opportunity to meet with new friends. He spotted the line leading to the table laden with all kinds of finger food. Lots of goodies laid on the long buffet table. An enormous platter of specialty cheese arranged nicely around the cheese dip was placed in the middle. The cheese dip itself was shaped like a fish, though much of the tail and part of the fin had already disappeared. Another platter filled with all kinds of nuts caught his eye. He filled his plate with pecans and macadamia nuts. Next was the fruit platter with apples and orange edges, little balls of watermelons and cantaloupe, and of course red and green seedless grapes. He skipped the fruit section altogether, promising himself that he would come back again. Then came the pastries section. He took a mini quiche and loaded the rest of his plate with chocolate ¨¦clair and a peach puff pastry; he was hungry after the plane ride. Suddenly, he realized he had made a crucial mistake, his plate was quite full already, and he still had not sampled the hot hors d¡¯oeuvres. He sighed and decided to work on what he had selected first. Frank moved a few steps from the buffet to make room for the newcomers. Quickly finishing his first plate, he got another full plate from the hot selections this time. His second plate was loaded with mini spring rolls, buffalo wings, and hot links. The sauce was kind of messy, so he hunted for a table to sit down. As he passed the open bar, he got himself a screwdriver. Spotted a table at the far end when the people there stood up to leave, with a full plate in one hand and a drink in the other, he carefully made his way to the table, but a few seconds short. A small, slender woman, apparently not seeing him coming, stepped in front of him and got to the table first. Frank kept his composure. ¡°May I join you?¡± ¡°Sure, help yourself.¡± ¡°Hi, my name is Frank Abdulcizi.¡± He put his plate down and held out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Kristin Sobinowski. Excuse me if I am not shaking your hand. These wings are messy and my hands are greasy.¡± ¡°Thank you for your kind considerations. Mine are greasy as well.¡± Frank took a bite of the wings. They were seasoned and fried to perfection. ¡°So, Kristin, where are you from?¡± ¡°Miami. I am with NOAA.¡± ¡°Are you a marine biologist then?¡± ¡°Good guess.¡± ¡°What is your field of specialty?¡± ¡°I study marine mammals, dolphins in particular.¡± ¡°Dolphins? They are an interesting species.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Are you a dolphin expert?¡± ¡°No, no. I am a computer scientist. I only remember what I read about dolphins from freshman biology.¡± ¡°They are more than interesting; they are intelligent and live in perfect social harmony.¡± ¡°Social harmony?¡± ¡°They are gregarious, playful, and sociable.¡± ¡°Surely they fight among themselves sometimes?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Not even during mating season?¡± ¡°No, they never fight and they don¡¯t display any aggressive behavior at all.¡± Clearly, Kristin was very proud of and fond of her dolphins. ¡°Wow. Imagine an entire school of dolphins with no fights. That is hard to imagine. May be there is something we can learn from the dolphins.¡± ¡°There is a lot we can learn from the dolphins.¡± ¡°Tell me more.¡± ¡°Come to my session tomorrow.¡± ¡°OK, you piqued my interest now. When is your session?¡± ¡°Right after lunch.¡± Kristin said as she stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll be there.¡± ¡°Enjoy your food.¡± And in a split second, she was gone. He wondered if that was the same Kristin mentioned in the news flash a few days ago, something about Mayflower research vessel. With a spring roll in hand, his mind was still wondering about the dolphins, imagining an entire school of dolphins playing, swimming, and working together in the open ocean. What kind of social structure did they have and why were there no violent behavior among the dolphins? He struggled to imagine that violent behavior was absent among the dolphins while the human species was so fraught with violence. The idea that there were other living things on this earth that could be morally superior to human beings was hard to accept. He rationalized that perhaps the violent behavior was not expressed or displayed as frequently as other species. For a few unmolested minutes left alone to finish his food, he returned to the open bar for a glass of Chardonnay. Looking around for his mentor and seeing that he was chatting with a few friends near the door, he sauntered to join them. The evening was winding down. Strolling back to his room and still cogitating on the conversations from the reception, he had been haunted by the implications of his research results since the beginning of the project. Though these philosophical and moral questions had not hampered his effectiveness in carrying out the project, now and then, these questions surfaced in his mind and he found it hard to put them away. When he got back to his room, he was tired from the whole day of traveling with a bad itinerary and lots of wasted time at the airport in layovers. Quickly unpacked the few things in his luggage, he relaxed on the recliner and caught a news bulletin from CNN. Breaking news. This is Joseph Berterop reporting. I am a CNN correspondent in Qetidghe in South Africa. Today, we heard that another village in the eastern tip of Qetidghe was completely demolished this morning by a marauding gang of attackers. It appeared that the attackers were all from a nearby tribe that had excellent trading relationships. This was terrible to see that another entire village was demolished in a matter of hours. We have obtained an eyewitness story from a little boy who had wandered off into the woods at the time of the attack. When the boy heard the shouts, he ran back to the village but was too late. He witnessed the aftermath of the attack. This little boy was so traumatized that he could not tell us what had happened. After the attack, some nearby villagers went to inspect the carnage. They found that the entire tribe was summarily slaughtered brutally. The attack was a complete surprise. One person found these words scribbled in the elders¡¯ tent: Hail to the Global Liberators! Another villager found an empty drinking leather pouch on the ground. According to what little we have pieced together from the broken speech of the little boy, the attackers all had a victory drink from the leather pouch. Then they marched as one man calmly and quietly back into the forest and disappeared. Right after the news broke, there was a terse statement issued by the Global Liberators. At CNN, we have obtained a copy of the statement that said, ¡°This is only a small demonstration of the power of the Global Liberators. Consider this as a warning to all the governments of this earth.¡± What a tragedy that had occurred. We are all in shock, grieving for losing this tribe, its people, and its culture. Stay tuned for the latest reports. This is Joseph Berterop reporting live from Qetidghe in South Africa. A follow-up bulletin: This is CNN Washington correspondent Jon Harpereno speaking from the nation¡¯s capital. Efforts to contact the Pentagon were unsuccessful. The White House had issued a terse statement. The President vowed to get to the bottom of this gang of attackers and to bring every one of these attackers to justice. This is Jon Harpereno speaking on the White House grounds.¡± Frank was visibly shaken after hearing this news report. His na?ve view of a gentle humanity was shattered. He thought and thought and thought, but with no comprehension. In the end, his conclusion was that the behavior of the attackers was illogical. They must have been manipulated. But how? Then, after the attack, how could a whole band of wild attackers become calm and march away without being rowdy and unruly? There must be something in that drink to calm them down. Vol.3 Chap.19 Receiving a prestigious award ***** Vol.3 Chap.19 Receiving a prestigious award ***** Frank slept soundly until the wake-up call came on the telephone the next morning. He quickly showered, put on his suit, grabbed his notebook with all the slides, and headed out to the restaurant for breakfast. He met a few colleagues along the way, but ate alone so that he would spend time to review his talk. Still unsure about coming to the conference with only preliminary research results, though he hesitantly accepted. On one hand, he wanted to tell all, but what he had was only preliminary. He debated within how much to talk about the research. At the end, the best strategy was to tell everything regardless of the implications and use this opportunity as a litmus test to gauge the moral response from the audience. Perhaps the audience¡¯s response could help him in his own doubts and quandaries. The first conference session went by rather quickly. Frank talked to a few old friends during the coffee break. He did not stay long, but hurried back to the lecture hall to get ready. The time for the plenary session came, and the room was packed. No one in that society was about to miss a good controversy. On the front, Frank recognized Dr. Chris Abrahamson, the President of AAAS, who invited him to this panel discussion. On his right sat a young lady whom he had not met before. She was oriental, young, and pretty, and she sat properly behind the speaker¡¯s table, smiling. She seemed perfectly at peace with herself. Occasionally, she looked around and would also smile at anyone who looked at her. Above all, she seemed calm and collected. Frank walked up to the speaker¡¯s table and shook Chris¡¯s hand. Chris introduced Doctor May-Ling Chen to him and they shook hands. Looking around, he was amazed that the speaker¡¯s table only had three settings. That means the discussion will be limited to Doctor Chen and himself. That would be a brief session. Frank told himself. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He turned to ask Chris. ¡°Only two panelists?¡± ¡°Two: Doctor Chen and you.¡± ¡°What is the theme of the panel?¡± ¡°You will find out momentarily.¡± Chris smiled mysteriously. A little mystery here. It did not really bother Frank, as he was a real pro at this sort of thing. Chris turned to May-Ling and asked, ¡°Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are you ready, Frank?¡± ¡°As ready as I ever can be.¡± ¡°Great, let us start. Let me first make a brief introduction.¡± Chris stood up and tapped the microphone briefly. The noise around the room fell silent instantly. Seeing the packed room, he smiled knowing that he had successfully arranged for this panel discussion with opposing viewpoints between Dr. Abdulcizi and Doctor Chen. Surely, his re-election to be the President of AAAS was assured for the next two years. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, colleagues, and friends, welcome. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for coming to this session. You had made this conference a tremendous success because we had a record number of attendants ever in our history. Thank you.¡± Chris clapped his hands. He nodded to his audience, who responded with a thunderous applause. ¡°Before we proceed any further, I was given a proud duty to perform. Every year, the AAAS presents the Scientist of the Year Award to someone we feel had contributed significantly to the advancement of science for the past year. This time, it was the unanimous decision of the Executive Board to present this award to someone so deserving, someone we are all proud of, someone who had done solid research for the past twenty years, and someone who walked among us in this conference.¡± ¡°This person had been in the forefront of DNA decoding and is currently in charge of a significant program from NIH on genetic decoding. He is an astute and conscientious researcher that had published widely in areas of artificial intelligence and genetic decoding. I followed his extraordinary work for the past few years and was constantly amazed at his ingenuity and accomplishments. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Cairo and his graduate degrees from the National University of Egypt. He is currently with the faculty at Carniegie Institute.¡± Christ turned to Frank, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the Scientist of the Year, the George W. Smith Professor of Computer Science, Dr. Frank Abdulcizi.¡± Chris held up the plaque high for all to see and clapped with his other hand. Frank turned red and stood up automatically. That was a big surprise! He marched to the podium, nodded to Chris, and bowed deeply to the audience. Speechless, he kept shaking Chris¡¯s hand after receiving the plaque, and bowed deeply again to the audience. There was a thunderous applause from the floor as he walked back to his seat. He was delighted, but he felt that he really did not deserve the honor. Vol.3 Chap.20 The panel presentation ***** Vol.3 Chap.20 The panel presentation ***** After the applause had subsided, Chris continued, ¡°This morning, I arranged two presentations with contrasting viewpoints from Dr. Frank Abdulcizi¡¯s breakthrough work on DNA decoding and Doctor May-Ling Chen¡¯s surprising research in acupuncture.¡± Anticipation grew among the audience. ¡°I know that having them both presenting together should stimulate a lot of synergisms and insights for the whole scientific community.¡± Again, there was another round of applause from the audience. ¡°Thank you. Thank you.¡± ¡°What I like to do is first to ask Dr. Abdulcizi to summarize his research results in fifteen minutes, then Doctor Chen to enlighten us with her research for fifteen minutes as well. We will dedicate the rest of the time for all attendees to ask the panelists questions.¡± Chris continued, ¡°So, let me present to you Dr. Frank Abdulcizi.¡± There was more clapping from the audience following the introduction, as Chris retreated to his seat and Frank stepped up to the podium. ¡°Chris, thank you very much for such a wonderful introduction.¡± With a smile, Frank turned to the audience and began. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished colleagues, I thank you for coming today and for your attendance. It is indeed a great honor for me to be here to mingle with you and exchange intellectual knowledge with you at this conference. To me, this is a great honor to be invited to speak before such a renowned audience.¡± Frank asked for the first slide. ¡°First, I want to set the record straight that the research that I am about to report to you was a team effort. I hereby acknowledged my team members, Dr. Margaret Tomash, Dr. JB Smith, and Dr. Mark Hymann. This research could never be accomplished without the dedication, ingenuity, and creativity of my team members.¡± A few claps from the audience with the perfunctory acknowledgment. ¡°I would like to make it clear to you first that what I am about to present to you is my research results and not necessarily my own personal conviction.¡± A few eye brows went up. Frank then traced the events that had happened during the last few months, being extraordinarily meticulous in presenting only the experimental data. He was extremely careful to not overly extrapolating or wildly interpreting the results. Not knowing the audience, he took the safe approach. He kept reminding himself not to say anything that he may regret later. He spoke briskly and his fifteen minutes were soon up. ¡°So, in summary, we had seen that there were multiple sequences in the DNA that seemed to be good predictors of violent behavior manifested in the experimental subjects. For this dataset, the team had synthesized a viable model for discriminating the group displaying violent behavior and the group displaying normal behavior.¡± ¡°Further, we hypothesized how mutation in the coding from the inherited genes that gave rise to differing behavior in offsprings from the same parents. I want to repeat that these results were only preliminary and should not be taken beyond what was presented. Well, my time is up and I will stop my presentation here. Thank you for your attention.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A loud applause came from the floor when he strolled back to his seat and paused to shake hands with Chris. A few of the attendees stood up in appreciation. Then more people stood up. Eventually, the entire audience stood up. There was clapping for a long time until Chris stood up to introduce the second speaker. Chris was clapping his hand as he walked to the podium as well and held up his hands for quite a while before the audience calmed down. ¡°Thank you, Frank. That was indeed a mind-blowing and thought-provoking presentation. Now, the honor is mine to present our second speaker. She is a prominent medical doctor and the founder of the Tsai-Chen Clinic in Xilon, China. Her work on the mental balance is known to some of us.¡± ¡°She is a distinguished doctor and acupuncturist and has been well sought after for lectures in China. She is truly one of those unique individuals that you meet once in a century. Unfortunately, I can only present one Scientist of the Year Award this year. I am certainly going to nominate her to be the recipient of the Scientist of the Year Award for next year.¡± ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you Doctor May-Ling Chen.¡± Again, more applause came as Chris walked back to his chair. May-Ling stood up in a dignified manner and approached the podium. She bowed to the audience before fiddling with the microphone. She was calm, faced the audience with a smile, and addressed the audience in halting but grammatically perfect English. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, this is indeed a great honor for me. I want to thank Dr. Abrahamson for asking me to come. Without his generosity and his help and the help of the AAAS Society, I would not be standing here and address such a group of prominent scientists and colleagues.¡± ¡°My English language is not good and I hope you all would forgive me. If you cannot understand what I am saying, please stop me.¡± She paused slightly. ¡°After about twenty-four hours of a plane ride from China and many plane changes and having a time difference of twelve hours, the time is past midnight for me. But thanks to two cups of the strong and aromatic American coffee, I stand in front of you right now. Hopefully, the caffeine in the coffee would sustain me for another fifteen minutes of presentation.¡± A laugh broke out in the audience. ¡°If I fall asleep at any time during the talk¡­¡± More laughs came from the audience. Though her English clearly was not as smooth as Frank¡¯s, but her command of the English language was acceptable considering it is spoken by someone coming from abroad. While there was a distinct Chinese accent in many of the words spoken and occasionally, she used a few wrong words; the audience was so absorbed in her message that no one seemed to care. ¡°It is indeed a great honor to be given this privilege to speak after such a distinguished colleague, Dr. Abdulcizi. It is certainly interesting to see the genetic connection to violent behavior, although my personal experiences point to a slightly different direction.¡± May-Ling then recounted the discovery, although she was always so modest not to take any credit about the discovery. She showed charts and figures about the human body and the meridian lines. The audience was spellbound by the entire presentation. She took her time to explain the yin and yang theory and how the balance of the yin and yang forces kept the body functioning properly at all times, and that her experiences with patients led her to consider that violent behavior came from an improper balance of the yin and yang forces. She described how she could restore the balance of forces using acupuncture and showed many cases from her patients justifying her claims. The audience was mesmerized. ¡°In summary, I have presented to you a new therapeutic technique for reducing violent tendencies. Throughout the talk, I have tried to explain the procedure and describe what I feel was the reason the technique worked.¡± ¡°At our clinic, we are obviously happy about the procedure. However, I want to stress repeatedly that this procedure has only been tested on a small sample of patients. Neither do we know the long-term effects on those treated, nor how applicable the procedure can be for a wider population. However, I am optimistic about the findings, and would like to enlist all your help to fully explore the total potential of this procedure.¡± ¡°I am convinced that having access to the yin and yang forces in a person¡¯s body could lead to significant therapeutic values for an entire array of personality and physical disorders. Though I am not sure I fully understand the implications yet. I know much less why it works. I am more than convinced that there is a significant benefit for humanity. Perhaps we can truly eliminate violence from our society. At least that is my aspirations and my goal.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for coming and listening to my lecture.¡± She bowed to the audience again before walking back to her seat. No sooner did May-Ling stop her speaking, than a dozen of hands shot up amidst a thunderous applause. Chris stood up, still clapping his hands, and walked to the podium. He adjusted the microphone and waited till the applause subsided. ¡°Thank you, Doctor Chen. That was an excellent talk. It was enlightening indeed. On behalf of all the workshop attendants, I want to thank both of our speakers this morning.¡± Chris turned to Frank and May-Ling and nodded at them. Vol.3 Chap.21 Nature versus nurture ***** Vol.3 Chap.21 Nature versus nurture ***** After the individual presentations, Chris, the session chair, opened the floor to questions and comments. ¡°I know many of you have questions and comments for our speakers, therefore we set up two microphones on both sides of the room halfway down the aisle.¡± Chris pointed to the two microphones. Before he spoke again, people were already lining up behind the microphones. ¡°We will take turns fielding questions alternately from these two microphones. I would like to ask that before you speak, tell us who you are and whom you are affiliated with. Also, tell us who you are addressing the question to.¡± Chris looked at his watch. ¡°I guess there are still thirty minutes left for questions and answers. Let us start with the speaker at the microphone on my left.¡± ¡°John Young from Johns Hopkins. I am intrigued by both talks this morning. The first speaker seemed to suggest that violent behavior is predetermined by genetics and chance, while the second speaker seemed to suggest that violent behavior results from environmental constraints and the imbalance of life forces in the body. This is the traditional debate between nature and nurture. I would like to ask each of the speakers to respond to the other speaker¡¯s point of view.¡± ¡°That is a loaded question, John,¡± Chris interjected, ¡°but an excellent question indeed. Frank, how about let¡¯s start with you? Could you summarize your thoughts in a minute or less, and May-Ling, the same?¡± Frank leaned forward and adjusted the microphone in front of him. He pulled it forward toward him, stalling for a few precious seconds while he planned his answers. ¡°Dr. Young, before I begin, I would like to say that my results were extremely preliminary and, in fact, I have not even developed a hypothesis. We tested a mathematical formulation only in one specific case and there was an undeniable correlation between the genetic code and the expressed behavior. We know that there was a correlation, and we were not even sure that this was a cause-and-effect relationship.¡± ¡°Throughout the talk, I repeatedly say that there was an apparent correlation, and obviously we wanted to run a lot more cases to confirm or deny if there was indeed a correlation between the expressed behavior and the inherited genetic code. Throughout the talk, we were careful in using the word tendency in contrast to actual behavior.¡± ¡°We could not say that the genes we worked with relate definitely to violent behavior, nor were we able to say that violent behavior can be traced to these genes. We were only saying that there was an apparent correlation between violent tendencies and the coding in the sections of the gene for our case.¡± It was now May-Ling¡¯s turn. She had a little time to plan her results. She leaned forward and spoke into the microphone. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Thank you, Dr. Young, for your question. I feel both nature and nurture play a role. I firmly believe that there is an innate disposition that governs our initial behavior, but on a long run, as a person develops, both the environment and the person himself or herself also play a major role in determining the outcome. The more a person matures, the more we can control our disposition and our environment as well.¡± ¡°The lady to my right?¡± Chris was enjoying his emcee duties. ¡°I am Marilyn Dunbar from Penn State. This question is directed at the first speaker. Dr. Abdulcizi. Have you investigated other parts of the genetic code? Are violent tendencies, as you called it, carried in the sex related gene?¡± Laughter broke out on the floor. ¡°Dr. Dunbar, unfortunately the answer is no on both counts. We only had time to develop our results on multiple sections of the genetic code. But be sure that our lab is running programs right now even as we speak to refine the sections of genetic code. As to the answer to your second question, I have got bad news for you. Sorry, the genetic segments we worked on are from all chromosomes. So, I can only conclude that violent tendency is a trait possible for all genders.¡± ¡°Thomas Carr from UCLA. This question is for Doctor Chen. You mentioned that the acupuncture treatment is only temporary. How temporary is the treatment, and is it possible to find a permanent cure?¡± ¡°Thank you for the question, Dr. Carr. These are good points. In our treatment, we found that the procedure only suppressed violent behaviors for a week. So, patients would need to come in for treatment every week. If the patient missed the treatment, we knew that the patient would revert to their earlier behavior rather quickly.¡± ¡°What about a permanent cure?¡± ¡°I would love to find a permanent cure; however, I don¡¯t know of any right now.¡± May-Ling was not about to divulge what she was working on using herbal medicines. Besides, there was no telling whether she would succeed at all. ¡°John Smith from Mass Gen. Dr. Abdulcizi, do you think we can genetically eliminate violent tendencies?¡± ¡°Perhaps. That would be utopia if we can do that. But right now, it is too early to tell. I would say that would certainly be the ultimate goal of this type of research. But I must leave the honor of genetic manipulations to others more qualified than myself.¡± ¡°Michelle Felt from Illinois. Doctor Chen, you mentioned that both nature and nurture play a role in determining a person¡¯s behavior. Would you care to comment on the degree of influences each play in a person¡¯s life?¡± ¡°First, I must admit that I am not a developmental psychologist. I am only a simple medical doctor who is practicing acupuncture. My personal feeling is that while nature plays a significant role in pre-disposing our initial behavior, our final behavior can be controlled, suppressed, or expressed.¡± She took a breath, then continued. ¡°We learn to keep quiet in some situations and to speak up at others. This shows that the expressed behavior does not just come from the innate desire to talk or not to talk, but also comes from learned experiences telling us when to talk and when not to talk.¡± She took a quick sip of the water. ¡°Hence, one who is talkative must learn when not to talk; while one who is quiet must learn when to talk. In the eventual outcome, we can achieve what we want to be or learn to be.¡± Chris stood up again, applauding. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I am afraid the time for this session is over. I know many of you still have many questions for our speakers, but unfortunately, we must keep to the schedule. I take this opportunity to thank the speakers for such enlightening talks. I must also thank the audience for coming and taking part in the session. Let¡¯s give the speakers and all participants an enormous hand.¡± Chris applauded, and everyone followed. ¡°We will now conclude our session. The conference committee arranged for refreshments in the lobby. Please help yourself.¡± Vol.3 Chap.22 Further intellectual exchanges ***** Vol.3 Chap.22 Further intellectual exchanges ***** Many started to leave, but a small crowd gathered at the front, taking turns to talk to Frank and May-Ling. Eventually, the crowd thinned as they had to move to the lobby with a few persistent conference attendees when another session was about to begin. Frank went over to the refreshment table and poured himself a cup of coffee. ¡°Doctor Chen, would you like a cup of tea?¡± ¡°If there is tea, that would be nice. Thank you.¡± ¡°What kind of tea would you like? I am afraid we don¡¯t have Oolong or Jasmine. But we have an excellent selection of herbal tea, like apple cinnamon and lemon lift.¡± ¡°Well, I like to sample the apple cinnamon. Thank you.¡± May-Ling turned back to talk with a small group that had gathered around her. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the meaning of those two meridians. It is hard for me to comprehend that the positive and negative life forces in my body are so physically available.¡± One colleague said. ¡°I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was pleasantly surprised as well.¡± May-Ling replied. ¡°Could it be that those two meridians possess other functions?¡± ¡°Quite possible.¡± ¡°Maybe they are connected to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system?¡± ¡°That is entirely possible because the autonomous system exerts positive and negative effects on bodily functions.¡± ¡°What do you think, Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± Just then, Frank joins the crowd with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. He gave the cup of tea to May-Ling. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°What was the question again ¡­ er, Dr. Smith?¡± Frank bent down to read the name on the speaker¡¯s conference badge. ¡°We were just wondering if the meridians that Doctor Chen had found were connected to the sympathetic and parasympathetic system of the body.¡± ¡°Sounds perfectly reasonable. Of course, I am the wrong person to answer that question, since I am only a computer scientist. I am not a physiologist. The last time I took biology in college, I made the worse grade in my entire college years.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Everyone laughs. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, I never quite get your answer to the question of nature versus nurture?¡± ¡°Well, from my research, there is definitely a relationship between a person¡¯s genetic code and the expressed violent behavior. So, there is justification for the effects of nature. But we must be careful in drawing conclusions right now. ¡­¡± ¡°I know you were cautious in making statements. But may be off the record, you could enlighten us on your position.¡± The questioner interrupted Frank. ¡°It is not clear if the genetic code segment that we considered is actually the genetic coding for violence. Even if it is so, it may not be the cause. It may only be a catalyst for violent behavior expression. Hence, the cause may not be direct. It may also be a negative catalyst, i.e. a suppressant for another messenger RNA that actually suppresses violence, the Yang effect. If so, this piece of genetic code is not the cause at all.¡± ¡°What about the role of nurture?¡± The persistent questioner would not let him go. ¡°There is definitely room for nurture. Who can argue against Doctor Chen¡¯s results this morning? Yes, the environment plays a definite role. Even from my own results, the correlations were not perfect. There was some variance between the predicted degree of violence and the actual observed degree of violence. Hence, the difference could come from the learned response imposed upon us by our nurturing.¡± ¡°You saw some variances in the data?¡± ¡°Oh, yes.¡± ¡°Gee, I was hoping I could say definitively that I was born that way.¡± Everybody laughed. ¡°You may be born that way, but that cannot be an excuse because you can learn. Like Doctor Chen said, a talkative person must learn to be quiet, while a quiet person must learn to be talkative.¡± ¡°What about you, Doctor Chen? Would you like to add any comments on this subject?¡± ¡°Well, regardless of what we are endowed with, anyone can learn. Far too often, the pretense that I am born this way, or that way, is used to excuse ourselves for our unwillingness to change. We should always learn and try our best to better ourselves.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t even such a desire to change is possibly genetic inherited from nature?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°If I am born unwilling to change, I probably would not change either.¡± ¡°Probably not.¡± ¡°It is all nature, then?¡± ¡°Even if you are unwilling to change, the society has a way to make you change. That is the environment.¡± There was a slight pause while the group was silently processing what was said. A strange man, taking the opportunity of a break in conversation, came up to Frank. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± ¡°Yes? Er¡­ Dr. Schmidtiz?¡± Frank bent to look at the questioner¡¯s name tag. ¡°I enjoyed your talk very much. I wanted to know how certain you are regarding the correlation between the sequences you found and violent tendency?¡± ¡°Well, our computer modeling shows that there was excellent correlation, as presented in the talk.¡± ¡°If so, what would happen if one can manipulate that sequence? Would the person¡¯s behavior also be changed accordingly?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t have an answer to that. Sorry. All we know is that there may be a connection between observed violent tendency and the DNA sequences we used.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Abdulcizi. You have a genuine discovery here.¡± Before Frank could answer, he was gone. There was something strange about him and with that conversation. The encounter vaguely reminded him of the newscast sometime past about the incident at Qetidghe in South Africa. Why and how? He was not sure if there was any relation between the two. He shook his head. Vol.3 Chap.23 The luncheon ***** Vol.3 Chap.23 The luncheon ***** Frank saw a line of people moving towards the ballroom where lunch was served. ¡°Doctor Chen, would you like some lunch?¡± Frank asked May-Ling. ¡°Oh, of course. Where is lunch?¡± ¡°Follow me. I have a feeling those people there are going to the same place as we are. Do you have your coupon ready?¡± ¡°I should. Thanks for the reminder.¡± She fumbled around and finally located the lunch coupon. Holding on securely in her hand, she followed him to the ballroom door. A couple of seats were open at one table close to the front. ¡°Doctor Chen, how about that table over there?¡± He pointed to the table. ¡°Sure, please lead the way.¡± They made their way to the table. ¡°May we join you folks?¡± He asked as they approached the table. ¡°Sure,¡± a young lady replied. Frank and May-Ling came around and sat down and found out that the young lady was Kristin Sobinowski. ¡°Hi, my name is ¡­¡± He held out his hand but quickly withdrew when he recognized Kristin. ¡°Kristin, we meet again. This is Doctor May-Ling Chen.¡± Frank said. ¡°Hi, nice meeting you, Dr. Sobinowski,¡± May-Ling said. ¡°Oh, call me Kristin.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Call me Frank.¡± ¡°And call me May-Ling.¡± The server came with the salad. Frank asked for a cup of coffee. ¡°You two are the panelists this morning?¡± Kristin asked in between bites. ¡°Yes. You told me you are one of the speakers as well. When is your session?¡± Frank answered. ¡°I am presenting a paper right after lunch. That is why I came early to eat to make sure that I save enough time to get ready.¡± ¡°Please go ahead and eat.¡± ¡°By the way, that was an interesting talk this morning.¡± ¡°You attended the session?¡± ¡°Of course, it is a plenary session.¡± ¡°I am afraid you have us at an advantage. You know what May-Ling and I did, but I am afraid I know nothing about what you are doing.¡± ¡°Oh, I am doing research on dolphin behaviors. I will present a paper on my dolphin observation for the past two years.¡± ¡°Really? Can you give us a quick synopsis?¡± ¡°Basically, I found dolphins are gregarious and as a species, they are cooperative among themselves.¡± ¡°Are you saying that there is no aggression among the dolphins?¡± May-Ling¡¯s ears perked up. Up to now, she was concentrating on eating the salad with her fork, which was quite a novel experience for her. ¡°No, no aggression.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± Frank said as he finished his salad. ¡°May be there is something we can learn from the dolphins.¡± May-Ling remarked. ¡°There are a lot of things we can learn from the dolphins.¡± Kristin replied. ¡°Frank, maybe violent behavior is not in their genetic coding?¡± May-Ling asked. ¡°Well, that is a good supposition. Maybe they are not programmed to exhibit violence.¡± ¡°Can your program confirm that?¡± Kristin asked. ¡°No, I can only find correlations. That means that you got to find me some violent dolphins first. I cannot confirm what is not there.¡± ¡°Well, you got a point there.¡± Kristin said. The servers brought the main entr¨¦e of lemon chicken on wild rice, garnished with cilantro. After all the airline food, this tasted so good to May-Ling. In the meantime, the lunch speaker has started the talk. The subject of the lunch speaker was not that interesting to May-Ling. So, she was sitting there enjoying the food. Without realizing it, she cleaned the whole plate in no time. ¡°I got to get ready for the session.¡± Kristin told Frank and May-Ling. ¡°It is about that time, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, nice talking to you both.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± After lunch, May-Ling was getting tired, not having rested well since she arrived. So, she told Frank that she would go back to her room for a rest. ¡°Do you have any plans for dinner tonight?¡± Frank asked May-Ling. ¡°No.¡± ¡°How about joining me for dinner tonight?¡± ¡°I would be delighted. I don¡¯t know anyone at this conference.¡± ¡°That makes two of us.¡± A lie, of course. ¡°Where should I meet you?¡± ¡°How about at the registration desk around six o¡¯clock?¡± ¡°Great. I will see you then.¡± ¡°Rest well.¡± Vol.3 Chap.24 Trouble with words ***** Vol.3 Chap.24 Trouble with words ***** Seeing that the next session was about to begin, From the conference schedule, two sessions were scheduled: one on marine life and the other on the anthropology of humanity with five speakers scheduled. Frank gravitated to the marine life session as he was curious about what Kristin¡¯s work. By the time he found the room, the first speaker just finished the presentation. The next talk was Kristin¡¯s. She got to the front and put her transparencies on the overhead projector. ¡°Thank you for coming to this talk. Today, I like to report some findings and observations of the research results that I conducted with dolphins over the past two years.¡± ¡°Before I start on the report, I wanted to say that I am fascinated with dolphins. They are magnificent, intelligent, and, most of all, peaceful creatures. Personally, I feel that there is much that we as a human race can learn from them.¡± ¡°Using our human terms, the dolphins are extremely ecologically and socially conscious. They do not damage the environment. They derived their existence entirely from groups. Within each group, there is no observable aggressive behavior. In short, they are everything that we hoped for regarding humanity. Let me explain.¡± The audience seemed spellbound, though Frank could sense a fair amount of skepticism in the room. ¡°For the past two years, I had designed, developed, built, and deployed over a hundred of these recording devices, called DRDs. Here is an example.¡± Kristin held up a DRD device and waved it in front of the audience. ¡°A significant amount of data can be collected by these DRDs. Here is a block diagram of the DRD.¡± She put a transparency up with all kinds of square blocks. The chart was so busy that the entire audience instinctively lean forward trying to get a better look. A few disgruntled noises could be heard at the back of the room from those who could not see well. ¡°An important data collection aspect is vocalization. We are interested in both the sounds that the subject dolphin makes and the sounds that the dolphin hears. We are interested in two-way communication; hence, we are interested in what the dolphin says, as well as what the dolphin hears. We want to record the entire conversation.¡± ¡°I have a deep conviction that the dolphins are carrying on intelligent conversations among themselves. In time, I hope to build a translator and understand what they are saying to one another.¡± Frank heard a couple of snickers at the back of the room. Admittedly, that was a wild idea because there is no way to verify what the true meaning of a conversation without getting inside the brain and consciousness of a dolphin. ¡°Another aspect of this data collection is to get a sense of community among the dolphins. To me, this is the most interesting aspect of this research. Often, we only collect data on a single individual, but dolphins are a gregarious species. To understand the dolphins and their actions, one must understand their actions in the context of the community.¡± ¡°When collecting data, we like to know where the dolphin is oriented spatially with respect to the other dolphins. Hence, we equipped the DRDs with several ultrasonic sensors that provide a coarse mapping of the space immediately surrounding the dolphin. This way, we would have collected enough information to reconstruct the dolphin family in action together.¡± ¡°We deployed over a hundred of these DRDs for the past two years. Currently, two-thirds of these DRDs are working in full capacity. The data from these DRDs were uploaded into the computer at NASA and the activities of these dolphins are being reconstructed in pain-staking details. Of all DRDs that were deployed, we can conclude that data clearly show five different communities. This was intended by design because we choose five communities to deploy these DRDs.¡± ¡°Through computer simulation, we can reconstruct the behavior of each of these five communities. Right before I come to this conference, my workers told me we completed the simulation for one community. If we can dim the lights, here is a short video of the computer simulation.¡± Kristin showed a short 1-minute video complete with sound. The video traced one dolphin that she named Traci, meandering around the ocean surface with a partner, that she called Tony. Most of the vocalizations seemed to be between Traci and Tony, although occasionally, both Traci and Tony seemed to repeat the same vocalization in synchrony, apparently to other dolphins in the vicinity. The audience was mesmerized by the computer simulation seeing red and black dots moving around in synchrony. The red dots represented the dolphins that were being tracked while the black dots were presumably the dolphins detected by the proximity ultrasonic sensors. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The dots as a group moved forward in a waving pattern. No clear evidence suggested if any of the dolphins was a leader with the rest followed. They all moved together as a group. However, each dolphin appeared to always swim close to its partner. After the video, Kristin asked for the lights. ¡°I see my time is up.¡± Kristin noticed the session chair giving her the one-minute wrap up signal. ¡°We had hardly processed the collected data. I wanted to report the preliminary findings on the data collected so far in this conference. In the months ahead, we plan to thoroughly and completely analyze the collective behavior of these dolphin families.¡± ¡°We also like to categorize the vocalizations in context so that perhaps we can understand these vocalizations. If there is a linguist among us, please talk to me after the conference. Thank you very much for your attention during this presentation. I will be happy to answer any questions.¡± A few hands shot up, asking questions regarding the data collection procedure. Kristin answered them readily. After that, the session chair stood up to introduce the next speakers. Frank sat and listened through the entire session. He was not really listening to the rest of the speakers; rather, he was considering the implications of Kristin¡¯s presentation, especially about the point that the homo sapiens as a species had much to learn from the dolphins. He was not sure about the claim that there was no aggressive behavior among the dolphins, but the evidence presented was certainly overwhelming. At the end of the session, Frank maneuvered to Kristin and invited her to sit down for a chat. Heading to the refreshment table and fixing themselves some decaffeinated coffee, they found a nearby couch and sat down. Kristin took a sip of the coffee and relaxed. ¡°That was a great talk, Kristin.¡± ¡°Thank you. There was so much more to talk or show, but the allocated time is too short.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth! They never give you enough time to say what you want to say.¡± Frank continued, ¡°I am quite interested in what you said about the lack of observable aggressive behavior among the dolphins.¡± Frank took another sip of the coffee as well. ¡°Well, nothing that I could detect from the data collected.¡± She is hedging because she did not know where Frank stood. Kristin had given her talk to many groups with varying results. Some were extremely skeptical, while others outright belligerent. ¡°I know nothing about marine life, much less about dolphins. Do you have any idea why the dolphins exhibit no aggressive behavior?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Perhaps it is not in their genes.¡± ¡°May be the lack of natural predators?¡± ¡°Hardly. Dolphins have natural predators, humans, for one.¡± ¡°From your observations, what do dolphins do most of the time?¡± ¡°They hunt, they travel, they play, and they chat with one another.¡± ¡°That is interesting. Are they territorial?¡± ¡°Not really. They may be on a larger scale, but from my observations, they do travel and cover a significant amount of area. Hence, there is no reason there would be aggressive behavior arising from defending their territories.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve read my mind precisely. What are their mating rituals?¡± ¡°Dolphins mate for life. Young dolphins would select someone from the same family and the two would stay together for life. In my limited data collection window, I could not pick up any of the mate selection activities. I would surmise that there may be some orderly mating rituals and the two would simply be ¡®married¡¯ and swim off as mates for life.¡± ¡°Are there any mating rituals reported by others?¡± ¡°Perhaps, but I am not aware of any at this point. That is one of my goals is to see firsthand a possible mating ritual. My plan is to first look for such possible behavior from my collected data so that I can understand when the ritual would take place. I will take my submersible down to the dolphin population so that I can see and video-tape the entire event. But keep this between you and me, please.¡± ¡°Your secret is safe with me. Do you think the dolphins are capable of any aggressive behavior?¡± ¡°Perhaps, but there are none seen so far. From the data collected, I can confidently say that there is no aggressive behavior at all.¡± ¡°I guess it is hard to tell. Are they capable of violent behavior?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± ¡°First, a dolphin¡¯s large body frame deters smaller predators. Second, the anatomy of a dolphin suggests a graceful swimmer. No powerful teeth like sharks to rip apart its victims. No powerful jaw like alligators and crocodiles to snap at victims. A dolphin¡¯s body is shaped in a way to minimize water resistance. In other words, it is not built for fighting, but for swimming.¡± ¡°Perhaps there is no need for aggression?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°Can they be incited into aggressive behavior?¡± ¡°You are trying hard to get me to change my position, but you will fail. I love those dolphins.¡± ¡°You worshipped those dolphins.¡± ¡°You can say so.¡± ¡°What if, while being with these dolphins, you accidentally ram them with your submersible?¡± ¡°Why do I want to do that? What is the point?¡± Kristin was tiring of the conversation. She shuffled her feet and downed the rest of her coffee. ¡°To see if they are capable of aggressive behavior.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°First, that is an outright provocation that is totally uncalled for. Second, the aim of the experiment is to observe them in their natural habitat, not an artificially created one. Third, I love those animals!¡± Kristin answered roughly. ¡°Are you sure they would not retaliate?¡± Frank felt he was coming out a bit too strong, but the words came out in the heat of the argument and he had no way to take it back. ¡°You are really obsessed about aggression, Dr. Abdulcizi! I don¡¯t appreciate what you are suggesting. Good day.¡± Kristin stood up to leave. ¡°Please, Kristin, I don¡¯t mean it that way!¡± ¡°Regardless of how it sounds, I don¡¯t like the direction of this discussion. You are the aggressive one!¡± She gathered all her stuff together. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kristin. I really don¡¯t mean it that way.¡± ¡°That is OK. You are not the first one that suggested the same thing. I am tired of people telling me what to do with my dolphins. Not that I know much about them, but I know they are lovely creatures. If I can even be one of them, I would.¡± In a huff, Kristin stomped off. ¡°I bet you would.¡± Frank said that though no one was listening, as he kicked himself in regret for not trusting what Kristin was saying. Vol.3 Chap.25 Dark clouds gathering ***** Vol.3 Chap.25 Dark clouds gathering ***** Frank wanted to refresh his coffee but saw that the refreshments had already been removed. The servers were cleaning the tables, getting them ready for the next day. It was still a little too early to meet with May-Ling. So, he decided to go back to his room and take care of some paperwork. As he headed towards the elevator, a voice called him from behind. ¡°Frank! Frank!¡± It was Dr. Abrahamson. ¡°That was a wonderful talk you gave this morning.¡± ¡°Oh, Chris, my pleasure as well. Thanks for inviting me.¡± ¡°You generated a lot of discussions among the meeting attendees. Everyone is talking about your presentation.¡± ¡°Really? I wasn¡¯t planning on being that controversial.¡± ¡°But you did it!¡± ¡°No, Chris, YOU did it by putting my presentation with Doctor Chen¡¯s together.¡± Frank pointed his finger back at Chris, who smiled. Frank continued, ¡°That was a stroke of genius. By placing the two talks together, YOU created quite a controversy.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. Nothing is better than a little competition, eh?¡± ¡°Competition or controversy. I am not sure which. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.¡± ¡°You really think so?¡± ¡°In fact, I am planning on having dinner with Doctor Chen so that we can carry on our discussion on the friendlier settings. Perhaps we can find some common ground for collaboration.¡± ¡°There, my boy. You are truly a scholar at heart,¡± Christ said, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Not really, just trying to survive. You know the drill: publish or perish.¡± They both laughed. ¡°Oh, yes, I know all too well! Glad it is you and not me.¡± They both laughed again. ¡°Say, I am really interested in this. Let me make a proposal.¡± Chris abruptly suggested. ¡°Uh-oh.¡± ¡°Let me take both of you out for dinner and I will be the moderator. In case if things get out of hand, at least someone would be there to pay the bill.¡± ¡°Well, that is very kind of you, Chris, but¡­¡± ¡°I am sure it would be OK with Doctor Chen.¡± ¡°Well, you know what they say, ¡®two is company, but three is a crowd.¡¯¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you like Doctor Chen? She is married, you know.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°OK, it is settled. I just want to listen in on the conversation.¡± ¡°Alright, I am supposed to meet her near the registration desk at six.¡± ¡°Great, I will see you then. I have a program committee meeting at five, but I will break away and meet you all at six.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Sounds good. I am heading back to my room to catch up on some paperwork. I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± ¡°I am looking forward to it, Frank. Thanks for allowing me to join you all.¡± Frank walked back to his room. As soon as he got inside, he immediately saw that the red message light on the phone was flashing. He said to himself, this is crazy. Can¡¯t a person have one day of rest? He put his things down on the desk and hanged up his coat, then dialed for the information to retrieve the message. ¡°There were three messages.¡± A gentle voice on the phone announced. ¡°Message #1 was recorded at 10:00 am. Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Mary from the office. Please give Dr. Jim Thomas, the department Chair a call as soon as possible. End of Message.¡± ¡°Message #2 was recorded at 10:45 am. Frank? This is Jim. Something urgent came up. Can you call the office as soon as possible? End of Message.¡± ¡°Message #3 was recorded at 1:05 pm. Frank? This is Dean Cherry. We have an incident here that we like to discuss with you. Can you please call our office and tell Pam to patch you through to me? End of Message.¡± ¡°No more messages.¡± Now, what is all that about? Frank asked himself. He figured that all these phone calls were probably related, so he called his chair first. ¡°Mary, this is Frank! What is all the fuss about?¡± ¡°Uh, er, I am not too sure. Dr. Thomas is not here, but he left word that if you call, we are to ask you to call Dean Cherry right away.¡± ¡°Sounds mysterious. Anything that I should know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know, Dr. Abdulcizi.¡± ¡°Oh, Mary, you are a lousy liar.¡± ¡°Would you like me to transfer you to Dean Cherry?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Hold on a minute.¡± Frank waited for a few seconds. ¡°Dean Cherry¡¯s office, Pam speaking. How may I direct your call?¡± ¡°Pam, just the one I need. This is Dr. Abdulcizi.¡± ¡°Oh, Dr. Abdulcizi, please wait for a minute. Dean Cherry is waiting for your call.¡± Frank waited and waited and waited. All he heard is the spirit squad singing the school fighting song on the phone while he drummed his finger on the desk. Being put on hold in suspense was getting on his nerve. ¡°Just a minute, Dr. Abdulcizi, Dean Cherry is coming.¡± Frank waited a lot longer than a minute. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± Pam¡¯s voice came on again. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Dean Cherry would like to find out if you would be back at the office tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes, I am taking an early flight and should be back at the office in the early afternoon.¡± ¡°Great. He wants me to ask if you could come in and see him as soon as you get back to the office.¡± ¡°Sure. Do you know what this is all about?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know, Dr. Abdulcizi. This is all that he wants me to ask you.¡± ¡°OK, tell him I will be in tomorrow afternoon.¡± ¡°I will pass on the message to him. What time should we be expecting you?¡± ¡°About 2:30?¡± ¡°OK, see you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± ¡°Good bye.¡± Frank hung up the phone, but he still had no idea what was going on. He thought about it for a while, but determined that it was useless to second-guess the situation. Putting the matter to rest, he tried to get back to organizing his thoughts before meeting May-Ling for dinner. Ona hunch, he thought of calling the lab and see if everything was all right. He picked up the phone and called JB. The phone rang and rang and rang. To his surprise, no one picked up the phone. That was unusual. JB was always working on the computer in her office. In fact, JB should be working hard, cranking out the latest program results he asked for before he left for the conference. This was highly irregular that JB would not answer the phone. He was really mystified and called the office. ¡°Computer Science.¡± ¡°Mary, this is Frank.¡± ¡°Hello, Dr. Abdulcizi. It is nice to hear your voice again. When will you be back in town?¡± ¡°Tomorrow afternoon.¡± ¡°I see. How can I help you today?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t seem to be able to find JB or Mark. Have you seen them today?¡± ¡°Yes, they came in and picked up their mail today. Would you like me to try their offices?¡± ¡°Nah, don¡¯t border. I¡¯ve already tried.¡± ¡°Would you like to leave a message for them?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s OK. It is nothing that important. I will see them tomorrow, anyway.¡± ¡°OK, let me know if there is anything I can do.¡± ¡°I guess not much at this point. Perhaps, if you see them, let them know I called.¡± ¡°I will leave them a note. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s all. See you tomorrow.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Frank learned nothing from that telephone exchange, either. So, he concentrated on generating areas of collaboration with May-Ling during their appointment in the evening; Frank sat in the nice comfortable chair and considered the events of the day for a while. He picked up two manuscripts that he was asked to review for the Journal of Artificial intelligence. Soon it was time to go. Frank wanted at least to try calling the lab again, even though it was after five. He knew that JB seldom leave that early in a normal day. To his disappointment, again no one answered the phone. For a while, Frank thought his whole lab had gone on vacation since he, as the boss, was away. Well, they deserved a vacation, Frank told himself, to calm down. Vol.3 Chap.26 Lingering uneasy feelings ***** Vol.3 Chap.26 Lingering uneasy feelings ***** Frank walked to the registration desk and saw May-Ling waiting there already. ¡°Hi, Doctor Chen. Had a good rest?¡± ¡°Oh, Dr. Abdulcizi! Yes. I had a good nap and now I felt refreshed.¡± ¡°Please call me Frank.¡± ¡°OK, if you call me May-Ling.¡± ¡°It is a deal. I hope you don¡¯t mind, but Dr. Abrahamson wanted to take both of us out for dinner. Is that OK with you?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Great. I told him to meet us here as well. He is really interested in our work.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°He is the one who put our two talks together.¡± ¡°I see. Did you not know that ahead of time?¡± May-Ling asked inquisitively. ¡°No, did you?¡± ¡°Of course not, so it is all Dr. Abrahamson¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Yes, he is the culprit.¡± They both laughed. Frank looked around and saw Chris coming toward them. ¡°Well, here he comes.¡± Frank told May-Ling softly. ¡°Well, speaking about the devil¡­¡± He said aloud. ¡°Hi Frank, Doctor Chen, I hope I am not the devil.¡± ¡°Just kidding. We were just talking about you, and you show up immediately.¡± Frank quipped, while May-Ling was smiling. ¡°Please call me May-Ling.¡± ¡°Thank you, May-Ling. Did Frank tell you I would like to take both of you out to dinner? I know of this great seafood place where they served the best seafood. You do like seafood, I hope?¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I love seafood.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t seafood a staple for people in China?¡± Frank asked. ¡°What is a staple?¡± May-Ling was puzzled at the word. ¡°Staple refers to the primary food that you eat all the time.¡± ¡°Oh, I see. That must be vegetable. Yes, vegetable is definitely a ¡­ staple (?) for the common people. Other types of food are only for the rich and for special occasions only.¡± ¡°Well, May-Ling, let us make tonight a special occasion.¡± Chris said with a broad smile on his face. ¡°Thank you. You are all so kind to invite me to come to America. That is already a special occasion for me.¡± ¡°This is your first time in America?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In that case, we certainly must make tonight¡¯s dinner a special occasion. Frank, any suggestions?¡± ¡°Not really. I love your suggestion.¡± ¡°Ok. Shall we go? We can catch a cab out front.¡± The three walked towards the front door. Chris pulled out his cell phone and made reservations for the three of them. As they are walking, Chris told them about the upcoming conference. Frank was nodding politely, although he could not help remembering his empty lab and why no one answered the phone. There was a feeling that something was not right back home. To May-Ling, everything was new. She was trying hard not to appear like she was gawking at everything. She was amazed at the decorations in the hotel, dazzled by the tall buildings, impressed about the richness of the land, and most of all appreciative of the friendliness and openness of the surrounding people. Everything seemed a lot more than she had imagined or could imagine. Amidst all the fresh adventures, she remembered her husband, Haw-Ting. Poor Haw-Ting. He must be running ragged, handling all the business back at the clinic. Most likely, he was running tirelessly with all the patients, handling his own patients and all hers as well. She worried he would not get enough rest and food. As she dwelled on the things at home, a dark cloud seemed to gather around the horizon. She could not put her finger on what that was. It was a feeling of uneasiness, an ill omen perhaps. The dark clouds were coming towards her, closing in, gathering on top of her head. She choked and almost yelled out, but refrained from herself. She made a soft cloaking sound. Chris and Frank turned to her. ¡°Are you OK?¡± They both said it at the same time. ¡°Yes, I am fine, thank you. Something got caught in my throat.¡± She faked clearing her throat. ¡°It¡¯s OK now.¡± ¡°What is the name of this restaurant?¡± Frank asked. ¡°It is called Bayside Seafood Grill.¡± ¡°Wow, the name sounds great.¡± They got to the front door and Chris told the attendants to get them a cab. The attendant whistled and waved to the waiting cab opening the door for them as the cab pulled forward. Chris left a tip for the attendant. ¡°Bayside Seafood Grill on Fifteenth and Lincoln please.¡± Chris told the driver. The cab ride was wild. It was a busy night and the rush hour traffic was heavy. May-Ling hanged on to the seat for her dear life while Chris and Frank were chatting casually and nonchalantly about a special session for the next workshop. In about twenty minutes, they arrived at the restaurant and May-Ling was happy to get out. They had to wait for thirty minutes for their table even though Chris had already made reservations. It was a busy night at the restaurant. Vol.3 Chap.27 Calm before the storm ***** Vol.3 Chap.27 Calm before the storm ***** The restaurant was a fancy one. May-Ling kept looking at Frank and tried to follow everything he did. When Frank adjusted the silverware on the table, she did the same. When he took the napkin and place it on his lap, she did the same. She looked at the table and there were so many glasses and silverware that she got totally confused. Even though she was thirsty, she dared not touch any of the glasses. ¡°Frank, may I ask you a question?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Which is my glass of water?¡± He smiled and said, ¡°The one to your right.¡± To illustrate the point, Frank took the glass to his right and took a sip. Then he placed the glass back on the table, a little closer to his side. She quickly followed the same. Picking up the menu and studying it for a while, May-Ling noticed the price for the entrees. After she converted the prices to rmb, her mouth dropped to the floor. ¡°Are these prices for a single dinner?¡± She asked Chris in exclamation! ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about the price. Order what you want.¡± ¡°Thank you, but I don¡¯t understand. The price of one dinner here already could pay for half a month¡¯s rent for my clinic.¡± They all laughed, thinking that was a joke, but May-Ling was quite serious about what she said. ¡°May-Ling, what do you like to eat?¡± Frank asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Most of the menu seemed to be written in French or Italian!¡± Again, they laughed. ¡°Yes, there are many French words on the menu. Let me help you order. Would you like fish, shrimp, scallop, crab, or combinations of these? If you are not familiar with American cuisine, a combination plate is the best.¡± ¡°OK, I will take a combination plate.¡± ¡°Would you like your meal broiled or deep fried?¡± ¡°What is broiled?¡± ¡°That is when they cook over a hot grill.¡± Chris explained. ¡°And deep fried?¡± ¡°That is when they bread the food and cook it in hot oil.¡± ¡°Sounds interesting. Hmmm, I like the first one better.¡± ¡°Then I suggest the Broiled Captain¡¯s plate.¡± ¡°That sounds good. That is what I want, then.¡± She replied feeling like a real captain. Frank studied the menu a little more and selected the Cajun style Mahi Mahi. Chris, who loved to eat, ordered a surf and turf with broiled lobster paired with an 8-oz filet mignon. After they placed their order, he started the conversation. ¡°First, I am so happy that both of you accepted my invitation to come and talk this morning. Both of you represented two opposing perspectives¡­¡± ¡°I knew you had something to do with this,¡± Frank interrupted. Chris smiled. ¡°I have been interested in this nature versus nurture debate for a long time and the research that you all did was interesting. So, I arranged this meeting of the minds.¡± Chris set the tone of the ensuing discussion. ¡°From what I heard this morning,¡± Chris continued, ¡°Frank, your results showed that there is a potent influence between genetics and the outward violent behavior. This suggests the part that nature played on a person, but also suggests that a person may be predisposed to violence, an idea we all abhor or rather not dwell on.¡± Chris took a drink. ¡°May-Ling, your results suggested that violent behavior can be curtailed by proper therapeutic measures, meaning that behavior modification is possible. This speaks to the influence of nurture. But the caveat is that the modification potentially can be beneficial or harmful.¡± Chris looked at Frank. ¡°Frank, can you speak to your perspective and I would like to listen to May-Ling¡¯s perspective.¡± Frank paused for a long while, took a sip of the iced tea while deep in thought, and spoke slowly, carefully crafting his word to convey what was deep within him. ¡°I think nature has its place, but I don¡¯t believe it is absolute. ¡®Predisposed¡¯ may be too strong a word. I rather like to use the word tendency. Many traits are passed on from one generation to another generation, e.g. disorders like heart disease, breast cancer, leukemia, etc.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He turned to May-Ling and said, ¡°You can probably name a lot more than I can.¡± And he continued, ¡°Just because your parents have leukemia does not mean that you definitely will have leukemia. However, medical science tells us that the offspring would have a higher chance of developing leukemia. We have the same situation here.¡± ¡°Interesting ideas.¡± Chris replied. ¡°What about you, May-Ling?¡± ¡°A person¡¯s behavior can be changed, either by a person¡¯s own volition or by external environment or therapy, such as the balance of the yin and yang forces. Most of us learned to conform to the society that we lived in. We curtailed our aggressive behavior, to the degree tolerable by society.¡± ¡°And when you don¡¯t, you get thrown in jail.¡± Frank added. ¡°So, you suggest that nurture can make up for the lack of nature?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Frank, since you brought out the prison system, can people be rehabilitated in a prison system?¡± ¡°Anyone can, given the right incentives.¡± ¡°Both of you are agreeing with one another.¡± ¡°We all admit that our personality is both nature and nurture¡­¡± May-Ling said. ¡°It is a matter of degree between the two.¡± Frank completed the sentence. ¡°Initially, nature plays a greater role. But as we grow, the influence of nurture plays a commanding role.¡± May-Ling added. ¡°Let me quote the saying that a leopard cannot change its spots. This suggests that behavior modification is futile. For example, can a thief be taught to completely abandon a life of stealing? Some said once a thief, always a thief.¡± Chris was playing the devil¡¯s advocate. Frank thought for a while. May-Ling responded to the question first. ¡°I worked with several gangsters, if one may call them that. My experiment had shown that their behavior can be temporarily corrected for a short period.¡± ¡°Is that an actual permanent behavior correction, or is that only temporary behavior suppression?¡± ¡°It is only temporary.¡± ¡°Any long-term effects?¡± ¡°None so far, but we only started this practice less than a year ago.¡± ¡°Are your patients cognizant of their behavioral change?¡± ¡°Yes, that is why they all wanted to come back for the treatment.¡± ¡°So, they all wanted to be better?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Can you make them worse?¡± ¡°Of course, theoretically speaking. I don¡¯t know why anybody would.¡± ¡°What about you, Chris?¡± May-Ling turned the table around. ¡°What are your thoughts on the role of nature versus nurture?¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t have any opinions yet. I am searching for the answer and for the truth as much as you are.¡± That was a diplomatic answer. The food came, and they were distracted by the food. The decoration was superb, and May-Ling wanted to take a picture of all the dishes before they eat. Chris waved to the attendant who came and took a picture of the three of them as well. For a while, they made small talk as they were enjoying their plates. ¡°How was the captain¡¯s plate?¡± Frank asked May-Ling. ¡°Very good, thank you. I felt like a captain and am eating as a captain!¡± They all laughed. ¡°There is more food here than I can eat for three days.¡± May-Ling continued. They laughed again. ¡°What fish is that?¡± May-Ling asked Frank. ¡°It is called Mahi Mahi. I don¡¯t know the scientific name. It is a tender fish with few bones in the meat if properly prepared.¡± ¡°Mahi Mahi, uh! I got to remember that name.¡± ¡°Would you like to try a piece?¡± ¡°No, thank you. I got more than I can eat right here.¡± When they were almost finished, Chris shot off another question to Frank. ¡°Frank, if violent behavior can indeed be traced to the genetic coding of some segments of the chromosome, would it be possible that at some later date, humanity may discover a way to correct the genetic code of that segment and make everyone completely non-violent?¡± ¡°I suppose so, and I hope that would be soon. In the meantime, we will need May-Ling¡¯s procedure to keep the violent ones in check.¡± ¡°Does that mean that good will ultimately triumph over evil?¡± ¡°You are extrapolating too far, Chris.¡± Frank retorted. ¡°The danger I see is that if we can manipulate a person¡¯s genetic code to be perfectly good, can we not manipulate a person¡¯s genetic code to be perfectly evil?¡± Chris asked innocently. ¡°And start breeding a race of super evil fighters?¡± Frank added. ¡°Or can we even use May-Ling¡¯s procedures to temporarily manipulate a person¡¯s behavior to be completely evil instead of completely good?¡± Chris was playing devil¡¯s advocate again. ¡°There is always such a danger.¡± May-Ling replied. ¡°Then both of you are indeed dangerously close to playing god?¡± Frank was stunned, and May-Ling was speechless. ¡°This is not an accusation, just hypothetically speaking.¡± Chris smoothed over the situation. But both Frank and May-Ling heard the message. Indeed, they may be playing with fire. It was an interesting sanity check, a wake-up call to what they were doing. ¡°I suppose what started out that is good for mankind can always be abused.¡± Coming to grips with the reality, Frank said slowly. ¡°We all want to eradicate evil.¡± Chris said. ¡°Of course.¡± May-Ling replied. ¡°But is it possible to discover a technique that could make the world better and worse?¡± asked Chris. ¡°I suppose there is always that possibility.¡± May-Ling admitted. ¡°That is a sobering thought.¡± Chris followed. All felt silent for a minute, lost in their own sobering thoughts. The server came with the dessert order. None of them really cared much about dessert any more. But upon Chris¡¯s urging, May-Ling ordered the carrot cake, Frank ordered the New York Cheesecake, and Chris ordered the raspberry tort with ice cream on the side. Finally, Chris broke the silence. ¡°We covered a lot of ground tonight. I appreciate very much your honesty and your perspectives. I don¡¯t think we can solve the world¡¯s problems tonight, right here and now. You gave me a lot to consider. And I hope that I have also given you some points to ponder upon.¡± Both Frank and May-Ling nodded their heads. ¡°I don¡¯t want to part on a sour note. So let me say this as a parting thought. I listened to Kristin¡¯s talk this afternoon. May-Ling, you remembered Kristin at our table at lunch?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°From her talk, she claimed dolphins do not exhibit any violent behaviors.¡± Frank continued. ¡°May be there is something for us to learn about dolphins.¡± Chris said. ¡°Maybe we should all be dolphins.¡± May-Ling said with a laugh. ¡°Imagine a human race with no aggressive behavior.¡± ¡°That is utopia.¡± ¡°That is nirvana.¡± ¡°That is heaven.¡± Everybody had their own term, but all understood what the others were talking about. Chris picked up the tab as promised, and they all took the cab back to the hotel. May-Ling thanked Chris profusely for inviting her to come to America and speak. She also thanked him for the dinner and the discussion. Frank did the same. Before they parted, Frank asked May-Ling to keep in touch. She readily agreed. They exchanged business cards and May-Ling invited both Chris and Frank to come to China for a visit. Frank sounded serious about coming. As they parted, on one hand, Frank had a great conference, but he sensed dark clouds heading his way. He did not know what awaited him when he returned to the university. Vol.3 Chap.28 A storm brewing ***** Vol.3 Chap.28 A storm brewing ***** The next morning, Frank took an early flight back to Pittsburg, arriving in his office around noon. He stopped at the departmental office to pick up his mail. Again, Mary from the office was the first to catch and stop him. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi? The boss wants to see you as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Anything that I should know?¡± ¡°I know nothing. I am only a secretary.¡± ¡°Ha, ha. Liar, liar¡­¡± Just then, the department head, Dr. Jim Thomas, came out of his office. ¡°Frank, you got a minute?¡± His voice is somber. ¡°Sure.¡± Frank walked in and Jim closed the door. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Sit down.¡± The entire atmosphere was subdued and stifling. Jim walked back to his desk and sat down while Frank pulled up a chair opposite him. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to start. So, I am giving it to you straight.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Jim said slowly in a serious tone. ¡°A complaint had been filed with the Academic Appeals Board yesterday alleging you and Mark Hymann of plagiarism. The suit accused you and Mark of illegally publishing materials belonging to JB who asserted that all of Mark¡¯s material was originally her idea. She had produced a significant amount of documentation showing how every part of Mark¡¯s research and dissertation were ideas stolen from her and she had the log book to prove it.¡± Frank sat there quietly, listening to him while shaking his head. He recalled JB¡¯s conversation with him before he left for the conference. He did not think much of it at the time. ¡°That is not true. None of it is true.¡± He waved his hands to add emphasis his answer. ¡°Frank, I am not the judge, nor the jury. It is not me whom you have to convince.¡± ¡°I am shocked.¡± ¡°Me too, Frank.¡± ¡°How could JB do that?¡± ¡°Well, she did.¡± ¡°Let me talk to JB.¡± ¡°That is not a good idea.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It can be construed as intimidation.¡± ¡°Come on.¡± ¡°Frank, I am on your side. Please listen to me. Stay away from JB.¡± ¡°So, just do nothing?¡± ¡°Do whatever you like, but stay away from JB.¡± ¡°OK, I will not call him or stop at her office.¡± ¡°Frank, I am serious.¡± ¡°OK, I get the idea. What is your advice in the meantime?¡± ¡°Go home and do some soul searching. The Academic Appeals Board will contact you for a hearing. You better have some good, convincing evidence.¡± ¡°I can only tell the truth.¡± ¡°Frank, you have been a valuable member of this department. I hate to lose you.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t lose me.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Well, I am going back to my office if you have nothing else for me.¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t forget the faculty meeting tomorrow afternoon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s on my calendar.¡± Frank sauntered out slowly as if a sludge hammer had flattened his whole body. He stopped at Dean Cherry¡¯s office and was told again about the complaint. Dean Cherry also advised him to stay away from JB. He was totally baffled, not understanding why JB would think this way, and was not sure what had caused JB to file such a complaint. Instead of going to the faculty club for his usual dinner, the news weighed heavily on him, so much so that he lost his appetite. Picking up some Chinese takeout on his way home, he was dazed with no comprehension or understanding of JB¡¯s complaint. The words ¡®complaint¡¯ and ¡®plagiarism¡¯ weighed heavily on him. Vol.3 Chap.29 Storm arriving ***** Vol.3 Chap.29 Storm arriving ***** Frank thought he had maintained a good research team all along, but the collaboration was being strained. Loose ends had surfaced. Closet skeletons came out. Ghosts of the past appeared. He could not put his finger on anything. The ghosts were as elusive as ever. No matter how much soul-searching he did, he could not recall what he did wrong. Disponded, he gave up and head for bed. The next day would come soon enough. He slept as if he had never slept. Strange dreams seemed to haunt him, though he did not know what the dreams were. All he knew was that he woke up more tired than the day before. It was a restless night. He got up and had his usual cup of coffee. The morning air was clear and refreshing. He jogged around his neighborhood. The fresh morning air lifted his spirits only slightly. When he arrived at the departmental office, he noticed the secretaries were quietly chatting among themselves but stopped abruptly and looked busy when they saw him walking in. No one talked to him as he checked his mail, but one can sense noticeable tension in the air. He walked past the department chair¡¯s office. The door was closed. He could hear some mumbling inside, but the sound was too muffled to be deciphered intelligibly. He walked back to his office and noticed that the message waiting light was blinking on his telephone. Immediately, he knew who that was. He pressed the code for the message. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi? This is Dr. Summer. Please call me as soon as you can. I think you know what this is about.¡± Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what this is about. Seriously annoyed, he mumbled to himself as he dialed the number. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Dr. Summer? Frank here.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Frank, I am so glad you called. I guess you know why I called.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Well, there seemed to be another complaint about you. This time it is from Dr. JB Smith.¡± ¡°From JB? What was the complaint?¡± ¡°Well, I am not really at liberty to discuss this over the phone. There are formal procedures to follow according to the faculty handbook.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°As the chair of the Academic Appeals Board, my job is to notify you of the established procedures. I am sorry about what has happened. But I must follow approved guidelines as well.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°The proper procedure calls for a committee to be formed. In the meantime, as soon as all the supporting document from the complainant is received within the next two days, we will forward a copy to you for your response. You have one week to respond. After that, we will have a preliminary hearing to determine if there is any substance to the allegations that warrant a formal hearing.¡± ¡°I see. What do I need to do at this point?¡± ¡°Nothing. You should get a package from me within two days and I look forward to getting your response. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡± ¡°Nothing that I can think of since I do not know what was in the complaint.¡± ¡°If you need a lawyer, I do have a list of well-respected lawyers in the community.¡± ¡°Why do I need a lawyer?¡± ¡°It is not uncommon for the defendant to have legal representation.¡± ¡°Does the complainant have a lawyer?¡± ¡°It is highly irregular for me to comment on the complainant.¡± ¡°I am not asking you to comment. I am just asking you if she has a lawyer.¡± ¡°I cannot tell you. Anyway, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°OK, thank you for your help.¡± ¡°I am just doing my job.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Again, if you want a list of lawyers, I do have a list of highly recommended ones here.¡± ¡°Thank you. If I want to contact any lawyers, I will find one myself.¡± Frank is pissed and thoroughly annoyed now. ¡°That is indeed your prerogative. Good luck and good bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± He slammed the phone down. A lawyer? Why do I need a lawyer? He thought to himself. I have done nothing wrong. There is no need to get a lawyer. Plagiarism? What is going on with JB? Did I offend her somewhere? Perhaps she wanted to write the NSF grant herself? Maybe I should have let her write the grant, but she could have just come and talked to me and I would have told Mark not to write the proposal. Frank sat in his chair and considered for a long time but could not understand JB¡¯s action. She had been fighting him every inch of the way recently. Frank thought that when the whole thing was over, he should really let JB make her career elsewhere. Vol.3 Chap.30 The complaint ***** Vol.3 Chap.30 The complaint ***** The next morning, a thick package came through special delivery from a work-study student. Frank opened the package immediately and scanned through the contents. The package contained copies of papers that he had published with Mark based on Mark¡¯s doctoral dissertation. It was not uncommon for doctoral students to publish their work before graduation. In fact, publication was expected, and for that matter, the more the better. Mark was a talented writer and hence was quite prolific in publishing. All the papers cited in the package were papers without JB¡¯s name. The complaint from JB claimed that all the publications attached to the package were all her original ideas, and they were published without her name. For evidence, she had copied many pages of her log book, showing when the idea was conceived by her. Having a log book to write things down was Frank¡¯s idea, and he insisted that all his students and postdocs did the same. Everyone including Frank himself kept log books to record the events and ideas that had happened during their research. The point of a log book was to record any research ideas as evidence of when the idea was first conceived. This was good practice for proving their case in the courts in the event of any patent fights. A well-kept engineering log book was good indisputable and court admissible evidence showing when the idea was initially conceived. It was almost comical and ironic to him that the very thing that he insisted on his students doing now became an instrument to haunt him. Frank was truly saddened by the claims. To him, the work was clearly Mark¡¯s, and JB had nothing to do with those papers. He inspected the pages of JB¡¯s logbook pages and compared those with his own logbook. It did not take long before Frank discovered that all the pages that she had submitted as ¡®evidence¡¯ were all records of research meetings where JB and Mark had taken part. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. What JB had submitted was indeed her version of the meeting that she had written in her logbook. Frank had been asked by the Academic Appeals Committee to submit a written response to the complaint, and he had a week to do so. Grudgingly, he composed his response. In fact, the supporting evidence for his response was quite easy to gather because JB had already given all the dates from her logbook. All he had to do was just copy the pages from his own logbook for those same days. Just for safe measure, Frank also copied the pages of the research meetings during the past years before JB joined the group and the log of the research meetings when JB was absent. In no time, he also had a thick stack of supporting evidence put together that he carefully laid out and indexed. When he was done with his response, one of the work-study students in the department walk the parcel over to Dr. Summer. Frank felt his response was sufficient, so he attended to his daily business and never even considered about the event again. That afternoon, when he was having his office hours, Dr. Summer called to acknowledge the receipt of his response package and would forward his response subsequently to the complainant and the committee members. Later that afternoon, she called again and said that the date for a preliminary hearing has been set for the following Monday and she was calling to see about his schedule. She was very professional over the phone and gave no hint of what the committee would do about the case. The weekend passed quickly. While Frank thought about the impending hearing now and then, he really did not think too much about it and had decided that he really did not need a lawyer. He felt that his response was clear, and that the submitted evidence justified his case. During this time, he left JB alone. He knew she was working in her office, but she would not answer Frank¡¯s phone calls or emails. Frank grew tiresome in trying to reach her and never had the chance to see her until the day of the preliminary hearing, Vol.3 Chap.31 The preliminary hearing ***** Vol.3 Chap.31 The preliminary hearing ***** As he walked into the room at the appointed time of the preliminary hearing, he scanned the room. He recognized some of the committee members and it is easy to pick out the rest of the committee members even though he had never met some of them. At one corner, JB was chatting intensely with a stranger whom he surmised must be her lawyer. ¡°Ah, Dr. Abdulcizi, we have a chair for you here,¡± Dr. Summer greeted him. ¡°Thank you.¡± Frank took the hot seat. ¡°Now that everyone is here, shall we begin?¡± Dr. Summer stood up. She turned on the tape recorder. The air in the room suddenly stiffened. ¡°Today¡¯s meeting is a preliminary hearing about a complaint from Dr. Smith, the complainant, against Dr. Abdulcizi, the defendant.¡± The words ¡®complainant¡¯ and ¡®defendant¡¯ sounded so foreign to Frank. ¡°Before we begin, let me go over the established procedures for this meeting. The written complaint from the complainant had been forwarded to the defendant in a timely manner. The defendant had also responded to the complaint in a timely fashion. I want to thank both parties for their diligence. Both the complaint and the response had been given to each of the committee members.¡± A slight pause. ¡°I like to remind everyone that this is only a preliminary hearing. The intent is for the committee to decide if there is sufficient ground for a formal hearing. Since this is not the actual hearing, there will be no cross examination between the complainant and the defendant. Also, the complainant¡¯s lawyer may not speak.¡± As a pro who had conducted these meeting many times, she continued her instructions. ¡°I encourage all the committee members to ask either the complainant or the defendant questions to clarify the complaint and the response. After the question-and-answer period, the complainant and the defendant are free to go so that the committee can deliberate the case in closed doors.¡± ¡°After deliberation, the committee could either dismiss the case at that point due to a lack of evidence or recommend a formal hearing. In either case, I will notify the complainant and the defendant of the committee¡¯s decisions immediately after the deliberation.¡± She paused for a minute. ¡°Are there any questions regarding the procedure of this preliminary hearing?¡± ¡°Is there a limitation on what we asked?¡± A junior faculty member raised the question. It was obvious that this was his first time. ¡°No, but keep your questions pertinent to the case, if possible.¡± ¡°This is all new to me. May my lawyer speak for me?¡± JB asked. ¡°This is highly irregular. We would prefer that you respond to the committee¡¯s questions personally and directly, since this is only a preliminary hearing and not a formal hearing, Dr. Smith.¡± JB nodded his head. ¡°If there are no more questions on the procedure, then let me ask the committee members to begin the questioning.¡± Dr. Summer sat down. An old bespectacled faculty sitting next to Dr. Summer started the questioning. ¡°I have read both the complaint and the response and the evidence supported by both. The evidence are pages from a logbook of research meeting discussion. They neither support nor deny the allegations. Dr. Smith, just because an idea is written in your logbook about a research meeting, how does that support the idea that they are your ideas? And Dr. Abdulcizi, just because it is written in your logbook, how does that prove that it is not Dr. Smith¡¯s idea to start with?¡± JB chatted intensely with his lawyer for a few minutes, then responded heatedly. ¡°I only wrote down my ideas in my logbook. I have brought the log book here with me and the committee can examine my logbook.¡± Dr. Summer jumped into the conversation to keep order. ¡°It is not the intent of this meeting to examine the validity of the evidence. The purpose of this meeting is to determine if there are sufficient grounds to warrant a formal hearing where all evidence will be examined in detail with cross examination. For this meeting, we assume all evidence presented by both parties is genuine.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That is the whole point.¡± Frank seized the moment. ¡°These were all ideas discussed in a research meeting where everyone contributed to the directions of the research. It would be preposterous to claim that all ideas in a group meeting belong to one person.¡± ¡°I did not claim all the ideas.¡± JB retorted. ¡°Or any.¡± Frank responded. ¡°I only claimed those ideas that were mine.¡± ¡°Again, I have to ask you gentlemen to stop and restrict your speaking by answering the committee¡¯s questions.¡± Dr. Summer stepped in again. ¡°My apology.¡± Frank apologized quietly. ¡°I have a question for Dr. Smith. You claim that these were your ideas, yet the evidence seemed to show that you got the idea from the research meeting. Is that correct?¡± A serious-looking committee member asked while flipping over the pages of the package in front of her. ¡°During the research meeting, not from the research meeting. During the research meeting, I suggested these ideas. Some were adopted and others were not. All those that were published were my ideas proposed during the research meeting.¡± A shameless claim. ¡°I see. Dr. Abdulcizi, your account of the research meetings was not as detailed as Dr. Smith¡¯s. Is it correct that all those ideas came from Dr. Smith?¡± ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t recall from whom the ideas came from. To me, the ideas came from the entire group synergistically, and the ideas belonged to everyone in the group.¡± ¡°So, it was possible that all the ideas came from Dr. Smith.¡± ¡°It could be, but I doubted that all the ideas came from Dr. Smith.¡± ¡°Just the ones I claimed.¡± JB jumped in. His face was getting hot. ¡°So, you do not deny the possibility that the ideas were from Dr. Smith?¡± ¡°No, but in the same breath, I do not deny that the ideas also came from Mark and myself as well.¡± ¡°That is preposterous.¡± JB shouted heatedly. ¡°Please, gentlemen.¡± Dr. Summer stepped in to calm the situation. Frank sat there quietly. ¡°I like to continue this discussion a little further.¡± The next committee member spoke. Frank recognized him as having served with him in other university functions before. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, you said that the ideas were from a research meeting?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How often do you meet?¡± ¡°Once a week.¡± ¡°What typically happens in a research meeting?¡± ¡°Most of the time, we have reports from the team members and then we discuss the issues.¡± ¡°I see. When are these ideas generated during the meeting?¡± ¡°In a typical research meeting, Mark or Dr. Smith or other team members would be asked to highlight what they had done and to report any problems. After the report, we all put our brains together to suggest the next course of action. This was the time when ideas were thrown around. We all took part in critiquing one another¡¯s ideas and usually, the best one or two ideas would be selected as the next course of action.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Abdulcizi. was that the situation in the research meetings according to you, Dr. Smith?¡± ¡°Yes, but the ideas cited here were proposed by me first.¡± ¡°I see. Did you propose the ideas before the reporting or after the reporting?¡± ¡°What does it matter? They were my ideas.¡± ¡°May or may not. I am trying to establish whether you brought the ideas to the meetings or whether the ideas came to you in a group discussion. If you brought the ideas to the meetings, then the ideas belong to you rightfully. But if you all were in a brainstorming session, then the ideas should belong to the group.¡± ¡°They were my ideas.¡± JB responded adamantly. ¡°But did you get the ideas during the group discussion?¡± ¡°What did that matter? They were my ideas.¡± JB shouted loudly and angrily, waving her hands in the air. The committee member sighed and leaned back. ¡°It seems to me that if the ideas were generated in a group, then everyone¡¯s name should go on the paper.¡± It was the junior faculty¡¯s turn. ¡°That is what I say.¡± JB jumped in, shouting in anger still. ¡°I do have many papers with many names included as authors. In fact, Dr. Smith¡¯s name was on most of the papers with my name on it. The papers cited here were primarily based on Mark¡¯s dissertation work and he needed to be established as the expert in his area.¡± ¡°Not at my expense.¡± JB rushed in and shouted with a sour face, though Frank did not respond. ¡°Would it not be better to include Dr. Smith¡¯s name if he suggested those ideas?¡± The junior faculty continued. ¡°Perhaps, but making a suggestion was easy. It was Dr. Hymann who did the programming, the analysis, and the write-up. Dr. Hymann was the one doing all the work in those papers.¡± ¡°Maybe your name should be removed, then?¡± JB ranted angrily. ¡°I have no problem with that.¡± Frank replied calmly. ¡°I really don¡¯t have questions at this point.¡± The last member of the committee commented. Dr. Summer stood up. ¡°I would like to thank the committee for their conscientious questionings. They have done their homework. I also thank Dr. Smith and Dr. Abdulcizi for answering the questions in such a professional manner. Before the committee goes into deliberation, I would like to ask Dr. Smith and Dr. Abdulcizi to make a brief last comment. Let¡¯s start with Dr. Smith.¡± JB consulted with his lawyer for quite a while. ¡°Dr. Smith?¡± Dr. Summer repeated his name. ¡°I just wanted to say that I know what ideas were mine and I am sad to see that I was not given credit for my ideas. This kind of plagiarism had to stop and retributions made for those papers published without my credit.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Smith. Now a last comment from you, Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± ¡°I would like to thank the committee for their time today. I only wanted to point out that Dr. Hymann¡¯s dissertation topic was determined before Dr. Smith came to my research group and that there were at least three other papers that Dr. Smith had published based on parts of Dr. Hymann¡¯s research that did not bear my name or Dr. Hymann¡¯s name.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Abdulcizi. At this time, I would like to ask that only the committee members remain for deliberation.¡± JB left quickly with her lawyer before Frank had a chance to talk to her. Vol.3 Chap.32 Anxious waiting ***** Vol.3 Chap.32 Anxious waiting ***** While Frank was quite confident before he walked into the hearing, now he was not so sure about the outcome. In hindsight, he should have put everyone¡¯s name on the paper, but he had his reasons. Besides, it was too irksome and tiresome to do that for every paper. His desire was for every person to establish themselves as experts in their own field. He felt he really had done nothing wrong, but was truly bothered. The outcome of committee meetings was highly unpredictable. Usually, the decision sided with the most outspoken person in the group. So, if the outspoken one was for him, the case could be dismissed. If the outspoken one was against him, then the case would go for a formal hearing. Not that he had anything to hide, but it was a waste of energy and time and resources that he dreaded if the case progressed to a formal hearing. Besides, if there was a way to salvage the relationship between him and JB, he would still like to pursue a more peaceful solution. He moseyed back to his office to pick up the mail. Again, all the secretaries looked busy, but he knew they were dying to find out about the outcome. So did he. He peeked into the Department Chair¡¯s office but the Chair was out. Happy about that since there was nothing to report, anyway. He ducked into his office, and for once, he closed the door. He really did not want to see or talk to anyone. Neither did he have the heart to work on anything. He just passed the time staring out the window where a slight wind was blowing. A few students hurrying around the quad trying to make it to the late afternoon classes. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He recalled Mark¡¯s cyber creatures. He wondered if he was a ¡®good¡¯ creature or an ¡®evil¡¯ one. Good ones always lost while evil ones won. Hmm. The whole complaint seemed like an encounter between a ¡®good¡¯ creature or an ¡®evil¡¯ one. No. That cannot be. Life is more complicated than that! He waited for the phone call. He stared at the phone. Then he glanced outside the window. He stood up and paced around his office. Nothing. He sat down and did some soul searching but came up blank as he really did not understand why JB was making such a big deal about having her name on a few papers. She herself had generated a lot of papers as well. Shaking his head, he paced around some more. It seemed like ages before the phone finally rang. He noted that the time was close to six in the evening. The deliberations must have taken over two hours. He hesitated slightly as he picked up the phone. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°This is Dr. Summer. I thought I would call to let you know about the committee¡¯s decisions.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The committee has decided not to pursue any further actions if you agree to add a reference in the contested papers mentioning Dr. Smith¡¯s name. I believe this can be done by sending a correction to the editor of the journal. Do you have any problem with that?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Good, we have already talked to Dr. Smith, and he has agreed not to pursue the matter if you do so.¡± ¡°I have no problem with that.¡± ¡°Great, it is always nice to have things resolved without a formal hearing.¡± ¡°I bet it took some doing to convince Dr. Smith?¡± ¡°Well¡­the important thing is that she finally agreed.¡± ¡°Thank you so much for your help and the work of the committee.¡± ¡°No problem at all. It was a pleasure. If you have no further questions, then I will leave you with your work.¡± ¡°Again, thank you.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Frank was not happy with the committee¡¯s decisions, but was relieved that it was now over. He was not pleased with what the committee had asked him to do, but he was tired of all the fighting. So, he packed up a few things to work on for the evening and headed out of his office. He wanted to go see JB, but decided not to do so when he was halfway there. He turned around and headed to the faculty club for dinner instead. Vol.3 Chap.33 A walk on campus ***** Vol.3 Chap.33 A walk on campus ***** For an entire week, everything appeared calm on the surface. For a change, the phone was extraordinarily quiet. Frank went about his usual routine with classes and other faculty duties. JB did not show up for the research meeting. In fact, she seemed to have disappeared from her office and the campus grounds. This morning, as he was relaxing in his oversize executive chair, looking out of his big picture window, somehow, he lacked motivation for the day. Scanning at his computer with over a hundred emails to be answered, those could wait. He looked at his inbox on the desk. The incoming mail had been piled over two feet high. Those too could wait. Ordinarily, he was quite conscientious and diligent about the mail. Every morning and every afternoon, he would pick up his mail. Immediately looking over his mail, he would sort them into three piles: immediate, normal, and later. The ¡®immediate¡¯ pile would be taken care of sometime within the day with what needed to be done. Then, perhaps once a week when he was not that busy, he would take care of the ¡®normal¡¯ pile. The ¡®latter¡¯ pile consisted mostly of journals and magazines that he seldom had time to touch and read that pile at all. Today, there was no motivation to continue on his monotonous routine. So, taking a break from his typical routine, he wanted to enjoy the wonderful nature outside his window and take a stroll on the campus grounds, something that he had not done for years. Since he had joined the university, his world, having shrunk considerably, composed of his office, his apartment, and the faculty club where he had his meals when he was alone. His apartment was only a place to sleep when he was not traveling. The furnishings at his apartment were Spartan at best. Though the apartment was furnished when he rented it, only the bare essential was present. There was a bed and a small dresser in the bedroom, a couch and a coffee table in the living room, and a dinette set with four chairs in the kitchen. When he moved in, he added a color TV at the corner of the living room and an oversized recliner. When he was at home, his favorite spot was the recliner facing the TV. Sometimes, he would fall asleep in the recliner instead of in the comfort of his own bed. Normally he got up at 7:00 am in the morning, showered and then left immediately for his office where he would make a pot of his special Columbian blend coffee with either Irish cr¨¨me or French vanilla flavoring. He would start his day answering emails and taking care of any necessary correspondences. There were always recommendation letters to be written for different students. There were always papers to be reviewed for various journals and magazines. The rest of the day would be spent in meetings such as faculty meetings, university committees, student¡¯s advisory meetings, meetings with other faculty members, conference calls with other colleagues on one matter or another. For many days, a whole day would go by without him even noticing that the day was over. Most of the time, he would grab a sandwich in between meetings for lunch. Sometimes, he would skip lunch all together. In the evening, he would work until 6:00 pm then dash quickly to the faculty club for a meal before the club closed. After dinner, he headed home with a paper or two in his briefcase to read. Weekends were the same as weekdays. In fact, weekends were more treasured and coveted because while the rest of the campus community was sleeping and partying; he found he could get much work done in the peace and serenity of his office without interruptions. Many of his brilliant ideas came during the weekends while he was working quietly in his office. Weekends were the best time to write papers and grant proposals. But today, he sneaked out of his office for a walk before anyone saw him. He knew that if he stayed in his office, someone would have found him eventually and there would be phone calls and meetings and interruptions. Stolen story; please report. He went to the faculty club for an early lunch. Afterwards, instead of hurrying back to his office, he just meandered around the campus. As he came out of the Faculty Club, he deliberately walked in the opposite direction towards the central part of the campus. With no specific place in mind, he wandered around the grounds exploring some uncharted territories on the campus. There were so many places on this campus that he did not know they existed. He read about new buildings and new construction in the school paper, but never visited the new construction. Today seemed like a good day to visit and be acquainted with the campus. He wandered around the quad, passing an old decrepit building. What building was that? It should have been torn down years ago. He went closer to look at the sign at the front. It read ¡°McMahon Hall, Literature.¡± No wonder. Clearing a small hill, he took a deep breath. The air was clear and sweet. There was a gentle breeze blowing in his face, blowing past his graying sideburns. Casting away all nagging thoughts about his present hassles and troublesome experimental results, he felt refreshed. He thought to himself, would that not be nice if there were no violence in this world, no worries, and no predators? Why can¡¯t we just enjoy nature and the beauty of nature, and better still be a part of this beautiful nature? He strolled along a dirt path littered with falling leaves. There were students hustling around him, since it was time for classes to change. But He was not bothered. He rather savored this peaceful moment. It had been a long, long time since he was at peace with himself and with the surrounding environment. Perhaps I have been working too hard. He told himself. He saw the wind picked up the fallen leaves on the ground. The leaves made little swirls, encircling the dust at the center. There were a few loose rocks on the path and he kicked a few of them like a little kid. That felt good. The paths were clear now. Only a few students remained. A few were sitting on the benches, enjoying one another¡¯s company. There was another couple kissing one another passionately in the warm afternoon sun. A student had his book opened on his lap though he was sound asleep. A girl with a pink blouse was all cuddled up, totally absorbed with a novel under a tree. In the distance, some students were chanting and practicing the army march. ROTCs. He thought to himself. He found an empty bench and sat down. He took a couple of deep breaths and felt quite relaxed. Here was a perfect world with no malice and no violence. There was nothing here to spoil this serene scene. He looked up and saw the buildings, even the silhouettes of the students in the classrooms, through the open windows. He could see the instructors standing at the front of the classrooms, trying to pass on the knowledge to the next generation. So that the new generation did not have to relearn the same lessons that the older generations had to learn. Well, the institute was certainly very good at passing knowledge from one generation to another. He wondered if only the good and not the bad was passed on, or only the bad and not the good? The wind blew again in front of him, and the leaves made a gentle swirl. The motion distracted him from his train of thought. He looked around. The campus looked rather deserted when class was in session. He looked the other way. The library came into view. An imposing building that had been added on several times to become the monstrous behemoth today. In there was the total of human knowledge. There must be books on every subject and every aspect of life. No other creatures on this planet have libraries, only humans. That was interesting. Did that mean that there was insufficient information carried in the genes that we needed such a vast library to pass on what we knew from one generation to another generation? Margaret said that less than 15% of our genes were used. So why were we carrying 85% of useless information in our genes? Yet we needed books after books to describe our behavior, what we knew, how we lived, etc. He shook his head. I am here to enjoy a brief reprieve from my busy schedule, not to worry myself to death. He told himself. I deserve a brief break. I have been out of town too much in the last couple of months. A squirrel came crawling up the bench in search of food. The little animal moved haltingly, not sure if he was friend or foe. Even if he stayed extremely still, the squirrel was apprehensive. It looked this way, and it looked that way. Then it darted forward two steps. Then it looked at him, it looked to its left and it looked to its right again. Now who taught you to be so careful, little squirrel? He said aloud to the little animal. As soon as he moved a little finger, the little thing scrambled away. But when he stayed still, the squirrel kept coming back. He cupped his hands together and extended his finger towards the squirrel. The little thing slowly came towards his fingers, sniffling the whole time. He thought he saw a puzzled look on the animal. Of course, he did not know if a squirrel would feel confused or not. But after sniffling for a while, the animal scatted away, seeing that there was no food in his hand. What marvelous genetic programming at work here. Vol.3 Chap.34 A subliminal call ***** Vol.3 Chap.34 A subliminal call ***** Frank looked around and glanced towards the library and noticed the statue of the former President Copenhagen in front of the library. He wondered why he never saw the statue before. Perhaps he was just not looking around enough before. He stared at the statue, marveling at the sculpture. The head was exquisitely done and the curly hair was carved perfectly, accentuating the distinguishing nose. The ubiquitous smile was permanently captured on this popular face. Tucked under his left hand was a big and heavy book. I wonder what book was that. Perhaps the unabridged Webster¡¯s Dictionary? The by-laws of the University? The campus budget 50 years ago? His right hand was outstretched with an open palm. Was he giving a blessing to the campus? Or making an oratorical remark to his audience? Or making a pitch to the legislators about how great the university was? The long graduation robe made him look distinguished, emphasizing his constant stress on academic scholarship. The statue was slightly taller than real life watching over the campus, over every student, over every faculty, and over every administrator and encouraging everyone to push to the limits of their capability. As he gazed at the statue, the curly hair seemed to lengthen beyond his ears. That is funny. He thought to himself. He shook his head and looked again. Instead of standing tall with outstretched hand, the statue gradually lowered itself while lengthening itself from behind. What was lost in height was compensated by what was gained in depth. The whole statue was now lying down. The book that was under the left hand had shrunk and disappeared while the hand enlarged. The outstretched hand retracted slightly. Both hands slowly moved forward and placed closer to the shoulders. The graduation gown seemed to be stretched backwards. The gown stretched and stretched as the base of the statue disappeared. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He took his glasses off, cleaned them, and put them on again. The statue was still stretching. It seemed to resemble a crouching animal. As he stared at the changing statue, the face morphed; the distinguishing nose became more rounded, the curly hair became long, ruffled, and unruly, the eyes were enlarged and penetrating; the lips were enlarged with fangs showing. In short, the statue had become a crouching lion with the head held high and tall. I have seen this image before. He was puzzled. Revelation suddenly dawned on him. What he was seeing was an image of the Sphinx from a distance. There was a deep stir within him as he finally realized what he was seeing. There was a powerful reaction within him, although he could not put his fingers on it. What does this mean? Why am I seeing the Sphinx now? As He looked again at the statue, the morphed lion seemed to continue to grow. It grew and grew and grew. The base of the lion spread towards the nice grassy field in front. The base of the lion now consumed the entire grassy field. As the lion grew, the surrounding buildings seemed to shrink and shrink and shrink. One of the lion¡¯s paws moved. It motioned for him to come. But he was frozen in place and could not move. The paw beckoned him to come again. He hesitated. The paws moved the third time, summoning him to come. He wanted to go, but found his body unwilling and totally not under his control at all. The lion made no further attempt to move. But he thought he saw a drop of tear rolling down the cheek of the lion¡¯s head. The drop of tear sparkled in the sunlight as it rolled down the lion¡¯s face, which had become very sad. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It¡¯s been too long since I¡¯ve been back to visit the Sphinx and my dear wife Catherine¡¯s cemetery. He thought, feeling sad as well. The image conjured up many pleasant memories of the past. He remembered many field trips during elementary and secondary schools in his earlier years, running around the Sphinx and the other statues in his youth with his friends, and meeting Catherine, his beloved wife who had passed away twenty five years ago. He savored the time he had with Catherine during those romantic nights where they had sneaked out on the class field trips. They would sit under the Sphinx holding one another¡¯s hands, enjoying one another¡¯s company. Then there were the summers when he and Catherine were playing hide and seek in the desert, running around like butterflies among the tourists. They would dress in the native costume and stand to pose with any passing tourists who would pay them money. At the end of the day, they would share an ice cream cone together in some hide-away place. In fact, they saved up enough money for him to purchase the latest model of a home computer at the end of the summer. Catherine, on the hand, spent all her money on her prom dress¡­ The image of the beckoning Sphinx kept replaying repeatedly in his mind. Ah, those were the days. He and Catherine got married as soon as they graduated from high school. Catherine wanted to be a librarian and studied Library Science. He wanted to be a computer scientist right from the start. Those were the happy days. He smiled to himself. The four years of undergraduate studies flew by. They had no children and did not want any. The university work was not hard at all, and he and Catherine would often sneak into the desert near the Sphinx without paying admission and frolic their youthful energies among the statues because their good friend from high school Barak oversaw admission then. Somehow, the Sphinx seemed to be a special place for them. Whenever they were there, they felt so close to nature, to earth, to God if there was one. They felt more at home in the desert than at their apartment. After graduation, they moved to Cairo. Catherine started work at the local library while he continued graduate school with the National University of Egypt. He took an interest in artificial intelligence (AI) immediately and checked out all the reference books in artificial intelligence in the library. What meager salary that Catherine made, if there were any extra, he would spend on AI books and upgrading their computer. Even though they were living in Cairo, they made frequent trips to the Giza desert. During his last year of graduate studies, He was rather busy in preparing his dissertation on artificial neural networks. But a tragic accident had taken Catherine¡¯s life. A careening car going at high speed after a bank robbery turned the corner and broadsided the bus that Catherine was riding. The force of the impact was so great that one side of the bus was bashed in and nearly broke the bus into two. The fuel line was severed and the leaking fuel was ignited instantly, causing a gigantic fireball. All on-board were instantly incinerated beyond recognition. The loss dealt a serious blow to him. Instead of his usual cheerful personality, He became sullen and withdrawn and kept mostly to himself. Instead of dealing with his loss, he channeled all his energy into his studies. He would hardly go back to his apartment at all. Rather, most of the time, he just ate and slept in the laboratory. After graduated with honors, his advisor suggested he took a faculty position in the United States to get away and have a change. Subsequently He came to the Carniegie Institute and was there ever since. ¡°Good afternoon, Professor Abdulcizi.¡± A passing student yelled to him. ¡°Oh, hi George, doing alright?¡± ¡°Doing great, just not enough hours in a day, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°I know what you mean.¡± ¡°See you.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± He looked over towards the library again. The statue of the former President Copenhagen was still standing guard over the campus as usual. He shook his head, but could not shake the nagging feeling within him. Was that really an image of the Sphinx that he saw just a moment ago, or was that just an illusion in his mind? I must be working too hard. I should take a break sometime. He told himself. Yet the images of the transformation of the statue into the Sphinx kept replaying in his mind and he wondered if and what was the underlying message. What was it about the Sphinx that had so enchanted him throughout his life? The Sphinx had always been a part of his life until he moved to the United States. He had had little thought about the Sphinx for a long while. Why suddenly the image of the Sphinx surfaced in his mind now? He shook his head again. Well, I think it is time to go back. He slowly stood up and walked towards his office. Before he turned the corner, He looked back towards the statue. Professor Copenhagen was still standing tall with the usual stern face, watching over the activities of the campus. He shook his head again and walked into his building. Vol.3 Chap.35 The real storm ***** Vol.3 Chap.35 The real storm ***** ¡°Professor Abdulcizi! Professor Abdulcizi!¡± Mary at the office saw him at the corner of her eye and rushed out of the office door to stop him. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad I caught you.¡± Mary stood at the door panting, catching her breath. It was very unusual for her to have a frantic look on her face being usually calm and collected all the time. ¡°Take your time.¡± ¡°We were all trying to track you down! Where were you?¡± ¡°Oh, I took a walk around this beautiful campus. Do you know¡­¡± ¡°We called your office. No one was there.¡± Mary was panicky and cut him off. ¡°We called your lab, and no one answered. We thought you disappeared!¡± ¡°I was just out to get a quick lunch.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t eat lunch!¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t have breakfast today, so I went over to the faculty club and had a pleasant lunch, for a change.¡± ¡°That must be some lunch. I didn¡¯t think that the Faculty Club is that classy to serve three-hour lunches!¡± She was hysterical now. ¡°Well, I had a nice walk afterwards.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time,¡± Mary looked at the time. ¡°It is almost three o¡¯clock!¡± ¡°What is all the fuss about?¡± ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Dr. Campbell at the Provost Office wants to see you right away. He called twice already.¡± ¡°What is the problem this time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but he told us to have you call him as soon as we see you.¡± ¡°I just had a pleasant stroll on the campus and the entire world collapses! Unbelievable.¡± ¡°Do you want me to call him now?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Dr. Campbell? This is Mary at the Computer Science Office. Here is Dr. Abdulcizi.¡± Mary handed the phone to him. ¡°Dr. Campbell?¡± ¡°Frank, so glad we got a hold of you.¡± ¡°I am here. What is the emergency?¡± ¡°Could you come over to the legal counsel office here right away? I am afraid we have a little situation here.¡± ¡°What is the big problem?¡± ¡°Just come.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right over.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. He put the phone down and was totally miffed and mystified by the phone call. Dr. John Campbell was the current Provost. He seemed an alright guy, although he really cared little about anyone else. Likewise, Frank met him only twice and likewise, did not really care much about him or for that matter, anyone from the Political Science department, anyway. In the past few years, he did not have to deal much with the Provost Office. As far as he was concerned, that was why you have chairs and deans and other administrators to deal with administrators. The Provost normally handled all the academic affairs of the university, including all academic affairs related to faculty and students. So, this was strange to receive a call from the Provost directly to a faculty member without going through the proper channels, including the Dean and the Director. And such an urgent call this was. The more he thought about it, the more he was mystified. Why did we have to meet at the legal counsel¡¯s office? And what was wrong with meeting at the Provost¡¯s office? He had a nice conference room over there. His mind was really going as he started towards the legal counsel¡¯s office. This could be either very good or very, very bad. Maybe they heard about the Scientist of the Year Award and wanted to give me more money? No, No. Money and resources in the university did not come that easily. Maybe they wanted to give me an award because of that? That did not sound realistic. Maybe they had finally found some room for my lab that I asked for months ago? Could not be. This would not have to involve the legal counsel. Just a phone call to the Dean would take care of that. Maybe they found a potential donor for my research and wanted me to meet with the donor. May be, but I doubted. That sort of thing was usually handled by the Development Office and not the Provost Office. Frank was really becoming frenzied now because he hated to be blindsided, but he truly had no clue what was happening in this case. Arriving at the administration building and bouncing up a few steps, he pushed open the heavy oak door of the building and walked in. Only top administrators worked in this building. There were no classrooms and no laboratories here. There were no students around, just administrators and staff members. The building had a stuffy smell because of poor circulation. It was one of the original buildings when the campus was first established. The woodwork was exquisite, and the furniture were all handmade with beautiful craftsmanship. Most of the furniture were still the original ones. He took the stairs to the second floor and pushed open the door to legal counsel. ¡°Frank, we are in the conference room.¡± Dr. Campbell shouted from inside. Frank slowly walked past the secretaries and the other staff members. There was a hush-hush atmosphere in the office. Everyone was looking busy. They quickly dropped their heads and pretended to be busy working. He knew, however, that their ears were tuned to what would happen next. No one else was in the office area. He looked straight at the conference room but could not make out who else was there other than the Provost. A bad feeling came upon him. But he consoled himself that he had been to many difficult situations before, he could handle this one. He walked straight into the conference room. ¡°Frank, I am so glad that I got a hold of you. Have a seat.¡± John Campbell pointed to an empty chair around the conference table. There was no one else in the room. ¡°John, what is all this about?¡± ¡°Want a cup of coffee?¡± ¡°No, thank you. I just had some during lunch. You go right ahead.¡± ¡°Julie, a cup of black coffee for me, please. And see that we are not disturbed?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°Frank, how is your research coming along? I heard that you recently got a nice award! Let me see,¡± John fumbled with some papers, ¡°Yes, the Scientist of the Year Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is super excellent work. This brings significant notoriety to the Institute.¡± ¡°Oh well, I guess they liked my work.¡± ¡°This is wonderful. The Scientist of the Year Award is a great honor to your work and to this institution.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°I have instructed the Media folks to write up an article on this. We heard about this while you were gone and so we asked Dr. JB Smith to give us something in layman¡¯s terms for the local newspaper. I think I have a copy here. Could you read this quickly for accuracy?¡± ¡°Well, if you have already talked to JB, then you don¡¯t need me anymore. She can do as good a job as me. I have complete confidence in her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡± ¡°Is that what you want to talk to me about?¡± Somehow, he had the feeling that was not the reason he was summoned here. Just then, there was a knock on the door and Julie came in with the coffee. So that was just small talk to stall for time. ¡°Thank you, Julie. See that we are not disturbed.¡± John repeated the ¡®not disturb¡¯ thing again. Frank thought to himself, this sounded serious. Vol.3 Chap.36 Raging accusations ***** Vol.3 Chap.36 Raging accusations ***** Dr. Campbell turned to Frank, still smiling, ¡°Frank, let me come to the point.¡± Okay, here it comes. Frank said silently to himself. ¡°While we were talking to Dr. Smith about the project, she mentally broke down completely. She told us how she was very much bothered by the unethical actions and sexual harassment during the last two years that she had been working with you and she was seriously considering taking actions by filing a civil lawsuit according to the advice of her attorney.¡± John took a sip of the coffee to let his words sink in. He continued, ¡°Naturally, we are very much saddened by what she told us. Immediately, we told Dr. Smith to hold on until we have a chance to talk to you.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, what do you mean ¡®unethical actions¡¯ and ¡®sexual harassment¡¯? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Dr. Smith told us about your operations in the laboratory and mentioned to us all the unethical actions and sexual harassment that happened there.¡± Frank was totally aghast and blindsided! ¡°Wait a minute, John. I know nothing about what you are talking about? What did JB say to you?¡± ¡°Frank, what Dr. Smith told us is highly confidential because this is a personnel matter. But since it involves you, I will¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®it involves me¡¯?¡± He interrupted angrily. ¡°Dr. Smith was very much bothered and concerned about your research practice and¡­¡± ¡°What research practice?¡± ¡°Frank, if you would stop interrupting me, I will tell you.¡± John was as calm as he could be in his poker face. ¡°Okay, sorry. John, go ahead.¡± Frank sat back resigned. ¡°Dr. Smith told us how you pressured her for results week after week and¡­¡± ¡°We have weekly research meetings!¡± He retorted. ¡°Please, Frank, let me finish.¡± John said holding up his hand to stop Frank. Then he continued, ¡°Dr. Smith told us how you pressured her to ignore the data that did not fit and use only the data that fit the hypothesis. We all know that this is academic dishonesty. Dr. Smith further told us that at first, she resisted you; but because you kept pressuring her week after week, she finally decided to just show you what you wanted to see but warned you that the results were totally unreliable. But you ignored her warnings and went ahead and gave your talk and published your results that were fraught with bias and inaccuracies.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I did no such thing, John.¡± John again held out a hand to stop him. ¡°Dr. Smith showed us conclusive evidence from his research results about how you have specifically excluded a significant number of raw data samples so that the answer would fit your idea. After examining the evidence, we agreed with Dr. Smith that this was academic dishonesty.¡± ¡°Oh, come on, John, you don¡¯t believe any of this. Do you?¡± ¡°I wanted so much not to, Frank. But we took the data to Dr. Brezinski in the Mathematics and Statistics Department. After examining the data for half a day, he agreed that those points you tossed out can hardly be called outliers and should not be discarded at all. Frank, we are all shocked by this event.¡± ¡°You shocked? I am stunned!¡± ¡°We all know that academic dishonesty is a serious thing. Dr. Smith further told us you not only harassed her for the research results, but you further had physical contact with her that made her very uncomfortable.¡± ¡°What do you mean, John? You know this is absurd!¡± Frank was getting very livid now. ¡°Dr. Smith told us how you often physically touch her during the research meetings, making her very uncomfortable. She considered this sexual harassment. When Dr. Smith was recounting to us, she broke down completely at this point and could not continue. Frank, we are really shocked about this matter. This is very serious.¡± ¡°John, I did no such thing!¡± ¡°We have also checked with Dr. Margaret Tomash and she confirmed that you have physically touched Dr. Smith.¡± ¡°I patted her on the back for a great job she did in programming.¡± ¡°So, you do not deny the fact that you physically touched her?¡± ¡°I said ¡®I patted her on the back.¡¯ I was just letting her know she has done a good job.¡± ¡°There are many ways to reward her for doing a great job without sexually harassing him.¡± ¡°I did not harass her, much less sexually.¡± ¡°We are really saddened by this lack of honesty and lack of judgment. Both academic dishonesty and sexual harassment are serious matters in this institution.¡± ¡°John, you are not hearing me! I did nothing even remotely close to what you are talking about.¡± ¡°No, Frank. I am afraid that YOU are not listening to me.¡± John pointed his finger back at him. ¡°I had taken all the evidence to Dr. Sottol, the Chair of the Faculty Senate and to Dr. Summer, the Chair of the Faculty Appeals Board. Both Dr. Sottol and Dr. Summer agreed that you had no case to stand on because the evidence was overwhelming. I had also consulted with our legal department and they concurred.¡± ¡°It is JB¡¯s word against mine!¡± ¡°Dr. Summer said she had handled many cases of complaints in the past and this case was rather clear cut based on the evidence.¡± ¡°It seemed like you all have made up your minds!¡± ¡°Yes, we have, Frank. Because of your service in the past, we would like you to resign quietly from your position before further harm is done to this institution.¡± ¡°You want me to resign?¡± ¡°If word gets out about your academic dishonesty, not only would you lose your NIH funding, but the whole institution would also lose all its NIH and NSF fundings too. Think about this, Frank. What would happen to this institution if we cannot get any federal grants?¡± ¡°John, let me talk to JB.¡± ¡°Frank, we feel it is best that you don¡¯t talk to JB. In her present condition, she is in no shape to confront you at all.¡± ¡°And you all believe her?¡± ¡°The evidence was overwhelming.¡± For a while, he sat there speechless. He did not know what to think. ¡°Frank, I need to make a few phone calls. I know this comes rather suddenly. Let me leave you for a while. After taking care of a few things. I will be back in fifteen minutes.¡± With that, John turned and walked out of the room without saying another word and closed the door behind him. Vol.3 Chap.37 The world collapses ***** Vol.3 Chap.37 The world collapses ***** Frank sat there dazed. The words academic dishonesty and sexual harassment were swimming around his head. What was all this about? Throughout his teaching career, academic honesty was the one thing that he stressed repeatedly with all his students and workers. Did they not know that? Why were they accusing me of academic dishonesty? Any honorable scientist would know that academic dishonesty was a career suicide. I would never consciously even want to think about it, much less actually cheat. No honorable scientist would even think about academic dishonesty. JB was the one who handled the data. She was the one who wrote the program and ran the data. I have never told her to delete any of the points. Of course, I asked her for a research progress report every week, but I was not pressuring her for results. And I certainly did not ask her to delete data points to get excellent results. As far as I was concerned, there were no unethical actions done in the present research¡­unless she was the one deleting the data points! Frank sat motionless, unbelieving, and confused. And what about sexual harassment? That was the farthest thing from his mind. How could a pat on the back be considered as sexual harassment? I thought she appreciated the compliment at the time. I¡¯d only patted her just that once? Well, let me see. Okay, twice. That was not sexual harassment? This was strange, very strange. I really needed to talk to JB about all this. Sexual harassment! I could not believe this. Check with Mary at the office. Check with Diane, the administrative secretary. Have I ever said anything or done anything that can even be remotely attributed to sexual harassment? This was ridiculous. He shook his head, stood up, and walked around the room in utter bewilderment. He walked over to the window and looked out. The campus was calm and peaceful. Classes must be in session at this time. It was also getting late in the afternoon. A light breeze blew up a few leaves on the sidewalk. A lonely student was hurrying into the library trying to find that book to do the assigned homework. He turned and surveyed the room. There was the beautiful oak table in the middle surrounded by a set of twelve exquisitely carved oak chairs. They sure looked nice, but they were terribly uncomfortable. There was nothing comfortable about this place. He remembered some years back he was sitting in this very room talking to John boasting about the wonderful research work happening in this elite institution as the honored guest when John was announcing the award of his NIH grant. He distinctly remembered that for that brief announcement, he felt he was sitting on pins and needles and could not wait to get out of the room and back to his office. Why were the administrative offices always so cold and impersonal? It almost seemed that the higher up one ascended, the colder the offices got. An urge rose within him to leave the room, though he resisted the urge. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Pacing around the table, he could not really think about anything. He felt so confused and numb. The confusion totally incapacitated his mind. All that he had worked for in his whole life had crumbled down to nothing in just fifteen minutes of smooth talk by the provost. Did all that hard work amount to nothing? No, it could not be. He shook his head and could not think clearly anymore. He was too shocked about the news, too confused about the allegations, too befuddled about the speed of the attack, and too tired to carry on the fight. While He had no problem standing up in big meetings or small gatherings to argue his research results and his viewpoints, he really had no stomach for these political maneuvers within the institution. Why couldn¡¯t people leave him alone to do his work? Mindlessly, He walked over to the door and was about to open the door when the door opened itself. ¡°Frank, I have a bit of good news for you.¡± John was smiling. It was the kind of smile that meant nothing, the kind of administrator¡¯s smile masking and hiding the uncaring, unconcerned attitude of the person behind. He merely raised his head to look at John and made no attempt to even acknowledge his entrance. ¡°Frank, I just checked your personnel records. You are eligible for early retirement in exactly one year. I have talked to the President, and we both agreed that we could put you on administrative leave until then when you will retire officially. In the meantime, you are officially a faculty fellow in the Provost Office and your duty is to manage several academic programs that we are starting this year. This way, you can keep your retirement plan. What do you say? I think this is really a very generous offer.¡± ¡°I really like to talk to JB about this first.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think this is an option right now. We are very sensitive to her wellbeing for her sake.¡± What about ¡®for my sake¡¯ and ¡®for my wellbeing?¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡°I really like to find out from JB what exactly happened.¡± ¡°JB already told us everything, and I have told you everything that we have learned from him. Come on, Frank. You really don¡¯t want this thing to get ugly for yourself, your career, and the institution.¡± I am glad he mentioned the last word ¡®institution.¡¯ He said to himself. ¡°The media office will send a brief message to the local newspaper saying that you were made the Scientist of the Year and had decided to serve the university in the Provost Office. Personally, I really envy you. I think we have a good package for you, given the present situation here.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Frank started to say something. ¡°Then you agree, right? Good. I really think this is the best thing for your circumstance and for the institution.¡± He just stared at John, speechless, the statue of the man shrinking by the minute along with his reputation. He never really liked the man in the first place and much less by now. Somehow, administrators always had a way to smile and speak so elegantly and positively, even when they stuck a knife at your back at the same time. Frank looked at John, who was beaming and grinning. He was so proud of himself, and of what he had done. To him, he had averted a major crisis that would infinitely hurt the institution. Through his ingenuity, he had savaged the situation. There was no consideration of the persons involved, no contemplation on people, just what was best for his position and his institution. Frank saw no point in arguing and delaying the inevitable. John¡¯s mind was made up and so had the institution. It was just sad that the one institution that he had given his life to, the one place that had made him what he was; the same place was now undoing everything for his career, his life, and his everything. This was totally ironic. He was not bitter, just numbed as he headed for the door. ¡°Ok to send the news release then, Frank?¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± He mumbled, waving his hand as he walked out in confusion and disappointment. Vol.3 Chap.38 Confusion and resignation ***** Vol.3 Chap.38 Confusion and resignation ***** After leaving the Provost Office, Frank did not know what to do or where to go. He did not want to go back to the office because he knew that all the faculty and secretaries were waiting for him to come back. He did not want to face them, not just yet, perhaps never. So, he just walked around the campus for hours and hours until it was dark. Somehow, nothing seemed important anymore. His research work in the office was no longer a concern and so as his hundreds of emails on the computer. His stacks and stacks of correspondence on his desk waiting for his reply could now wait for a day, a month, or forever. As he was strolling around the campus, his past years of service surfaced in his memory. During his doctoral studies in Cairo, He investigated the use of an adaptive artificial neural network to model the development of learning and was successful in developing a network to respond and learn simple stimuli from external sources. Two decades ago, artificial neural network research was hot and many artificial intelligence researchers were proposing many learning networks. He combined the adaptive power of an artificial neural network with his superior learning strategy and could make automatically classify patterns and learn the proper responses. For his excellence in doctoral research, He was awarded the best doctoral dissertation in the whole university. That was just the beginning of a series of lifetime awards. After his wife¡¯s accident in Cairo, he threw himself into his research work and finished his dissertation in record time. Upon the strong recommendation of his major advisor, he took up a faculty position at the Carniegie Institute, where he had spent the last twenty-five years of his life. During this time, he had advanced quickly, having received his promotion to Associate Professorship in four years rather than the usual six. Then he was promoted again to Full Professorship in another three years, while many of his colleagues were never promoted even after ten to fifteen years. But throughout all this time, He kept himself busy in his research. During his tenure at the Institute, He continued to use his enhanced artificial neural network to model the development cycle of a child. By further enhancing the learning capability of his network using the superior computing power available to him at the Institute, He could make his network do many intelligent activities that other researchers had failed to achieve. He was active in the professional community. Because of his knowledge in chess playing, He was asked by a consortium of researchers to lead the effort to design a new generation of computer chess-playing program. For quite a long time, the competition had been between Deep Blue, the forerunner in computer chess designed by IBM and the human grand master in chess. For a while, He enjoyed generous funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense for his artificial intelligence work. But just like everything else, good things did not stay good forever. A series of years with a huge federal budget deficit had dried up the well for long-term research with the Department of Defense. Likewise, the funding from the National Science Foundation was also severely curtailed. As federal funding became scarce in research work dealing with artificial intelligence, He turned to applications of artificial intelligence in bioengineering. That was when he collaborated with Dr. Margaret Tomash at the Department of Genetics in cracking the human genome. But his lifetime of accomplishments abruptly ended today. What had gone wrong? Replaying his last 25 years in his mind, he remembered every research proposal he had written, every student that he had supervised, every report that he had submitted, every breakthrough that he had come across. In all these, he was forthright and above reproach. He never had a paper submitted for publication that was rejected by the editorial staff of the journal. He recalled every colleague that he had collaborated with, every research meeting that he had attended. No one had ever challenged his results, at least no one until now, and by a member of his own research team at that. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. But what had gone wrong? For 25 years, He tried to be a gentleman and a scholar. He had always been careful in his research techniques. He was extremely diligent to explore opposing points of view. It had always been his practice not to publish anything or present anything if he felt uncomfortable about the results. In fact, he could recall many times when some of his own graduate students got too excited about the results and he had to tone them down. In fact, the last time, it was JB who was pushing him to release the latest results on the violent tendencies as seen from the human genome. How diabolical that it was JB now accusing him of ¡®pushing¡¯ for results and making her ¡®alter¡¯ the data to agree with the present viewpoint. I did not cook the data! If anyone did, it was JB herself! Academic Dishonesty! He had been an honest researcher and scientist right from the start. While others sometimes fudged on the results, He had always been strict with himself and with his students. He knew that if the theory cannot explain the experimental data, then the theory needed to be changed. The theory must account for the entire set of data. How diabolic and comical that the very thing that he had been so careful of that was the very thing he was now being accused of doing. This was a serious offense to ¡°cook¡± the data. This was absolute academic dishonesty to selectively include the data that fit and exclude the data that did not fit. No respectable scientist would even think of doing anything like this. Sexual Harassment! This was totally ridiculous. Though he was the most eligible bachelor on campus, everyone knew he was married to his work. Everyone knew he had no social life at all. His only contact was the few students and post-docs in his laboratory. In every faculty meeting or student meeting, in every encounter with friends or colleagues, He had always tried to be as professional as possible. He had no run-ins with any of the other faculty, except for one oddball faculty who was at odds with everyone else and who should have retired years and years ago. He had been too busy with his own research work that he hardly had time to play politics. There was never an agenda to enhance himself except to excel in whatever research directions he was working on. He found an empty bench on the campus, sat down, and stretched his arms and legs out in spread-eagle format. He let the breeze blow through him. Ah. That felt good. He closed his eyes and just wished that the breeze would carry away all his troubles and worries. He took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. Another deep breath and timed it so that he would let the air out when the breeze was blowing. That seemed to help. He continued this deep breathing exercise for a few minutes longer and gave his brain a rest. For a long time, he tried to understand, but the more he dwelled on the events happening, the more befuddled he became. The more he tried to recall specific events, the more confused he got. The more images of faces he saw in his mind, the less sure he became. Closing his eyes, he just let it all out. It felt good just to put everything aside. He thought of Mark¡¯s creatures. He wondered if he was one of the good creatures or the bad ones. Was this an encounter of a good creature with a bad one? Certainly, he felt he had tried to do well in his whole life. He had never tried to do malice to anyone else. If he was one of the good creatures, then who are the bad ones? If he was one of the good ones, was the world being taken over by bad ones? According to Mark¡¯s results, the bad invariably overtook the good ones. Was he a casualty of an encounter between a good creature and a bad one? The thought troubled him a great deal. No, Mark¡¯s results cannot be right. There had to be a way out of this to temper the outcome of the encounter between the good creatures and the bad ones. He said to himself. Seeing that he was almost motionless, a tiny squirrel climbed up the bench cautiously and yet curiously. The squirrel would move a few quick steps and stop. It would then evaluate the danger level around it. If everything is clear, it would move a few more steps and stop. When the tiny animal got closed to him, he deliberately stayed very quiet and remained motionless. Soon the tiny creature was on his lap, but its small brain was totally unaware and incapable of comprehending the sinister thought going through his mind at that moment. Suddenly, he flung his arms around and caught the creature in his grips. The little thing was stunned and after a while, began yapping as noisily as possible when its brain finally assessed danger at hand. But it was too late; the little body was totally being crushed by a powerful force with five appendages. He brought the animal to his eye level and used the other free hand to lecture the animal about its carelessness. He told the little thing that people were not to be trusted, and that it should always be wearied of people. The little thing continued to yap noisily. After a while, he was convinced that the creature had finally received his message and had promised to heed his warning. Gently, He let the creature down on the ground and it scurried away faster than he could blink his eye. Yup, it got the message. He said to himself. He looked around. The campus was deserted. Most of the students were back at the dorms, yet Professor Copenhagen¡¯s statue was still standing guard. He looked at the statue again. He stared at the statue one more time. But there was no transformation. Professor Copenhagen was standing tall, watching over the campus. He did not care about this little predicament that He found himself in. To him, He was just another faculty, another face, another person who had tread on this hallowed ground. Vol.3 Chap.39 Revelation at last ***** Vol.3 Chap.39 Revelation at last ***** It was getting late. It was already past six o¡¯clock. He thought of going to the faculty club for dinner, but for fear of meeting anybody he knew there, he changed his mind. Desirous of being alone more than ever, he picked up at the Ah-Choo Kitchen at the campus corner the special for the day: Moo-Goo-Gai-Pan with fried rice, a spring roll, and, of course, a fortune cookie. With the food, he walked aimlessly back to his office avoiding the office area just in case there may be other faculty there. He saw no one as he sneaked into his office and closed the door quickly. Though not hungry, he ate the chicken and the fried rice leaving the spring roll untouched. Breaking with tradition, he opened the fortune cookie. He never really cared much about those messages in the fortune cookie before. But today, he thought he would just open and see what it says. The message in the cookie said, ¡®Honor and duty will come your way.¡¯ He chuckled and said aloud to himself, ¡°Boy, are they wrong!¡± and threw the paper in the trash can. After dinner, He did not feel like working at all. Nothing seemed important. A thought came to him regarding JB. Searching for the original reference letter from JB¡¯s advisor, he sat down and read the letter. ¡°¡­ JB is one of the best doctoral students, if not the best¡­¡± Well. That was the reason he hired her. ¡°She is extremely self-motivated and resourceful¡­¡± For sure. ¡°She usually knows what she wants, and she always gets what she wants¡­¡± Hmm. What does that mean? This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°She is very single-minded, and she seldom lets other things distract her from her goal¡­¡± That was as good a reference letter as one could write for a student. But what was the actual message here? On the surface, the letter gave a superb recommendation for an outstanding student with words like ¡®the best¡¯, ¡®self-motivated¡¯, and ¡®resourceful¡¯. These were qualities that every faculty wanted their students to have, students who could take care of themselves and carry out independent research. These were certainly desirable and admirable qualities. He certainly had observed JB in the past years, exhibiting these qualities. He never had to tell her where the library was, or where to go on the web for free software. The moment that she arrived, she was going full steam ahead, just like any other team members. That was the reason he hired her in the first place. He was tired of post-docs that could not do any independent work at all and had to be told what to do for every move. JB was a joy because he never had to tell her what to do. But what else was contained in the letter: ¡®single-minded¡¯ and ¡®goal?¡¯ What was the message here? He leaned back in his chair and recalled the past two years when JB was one of his team members. It was true that she could produce excellent research work. She was a genius and catapulted the project to results that he could not even dream of. He had always taken her as a colleague and not as someone working under him and had always encouraged her to look for a permanent faculty job elsewhere. In fact, He had even spoken to the department chair when there was a faculty opening earlier in the academic year, but the position had already been earmarked for another area and she was not a good fit for that position. He had written countless recommendation letters for her and had spoken to many of his colleagues about her. He knew that she had received several offers during the past year. Among these offers, at least two were from Ivy League schools. Why she turned them all down was the one thing that he could never understand. Though he had asked her several times about those offers, she had never given a straightforward answer. Eventually, he left off asking her about the offers. To him, he had done everything he could other than give her his own job... Boom! Ding, ding, ding, ding! A loud ring exploded in his head! Frank almost fell off his chair when the realization dawned on him. She wants my job! She desperately wants my job! She really wants my job! He put the files back. The events of the past years became crystal clear. What happened with all the past shenanigans related to the fiasco of missing classes was planned. The complaint with plagiarism was planned. The accusation today was planned. The execution of her plan was simply superb. Finally, everything that happened during the last two years fell into place. Vol.3 Chap.40 Renewed subliminal call ***** Vol.3 Chap.40 Renewed subliminal call **** From the office, Frank took his laptop and nothing else and headed back to his apartment. He felt released from the duties of the Institute. Sitting down on his favorite recliner, he was relieved from the daily pressures. He switched on the television and was flipping through the channels. Normally, he hardly watched the TV at all, so he really did not have a favorite channel. He flipped through a few channels with soap operas that he never cared much about those. He flipped to the CNN News channel. A newscast was on. A boat had gone down in the Bermuda Triangle carrying the newly elected senator from Texas. All on abroad were feared lost. A local pilot who was flying around the area reported that he saw a massive release of gas. The gas bubbles around the lonely luxury boat rocked the boat over and over and eventually caused the boat to lose floatation and sank. The US Coast Guard has been dispatched to investigate the incidence. On another news front¡­ He moved on to another channel. This is CNN International. ¡­cure for violence. A famous Chinese acupuncturist claimed that violence can now be cured. During an interview, she claimed that twenty of her violent patients from the local prison were treated by her using her latest acupuncture techniques. After six months of treatment, eighteen of them were released to become productive workers on a collective farm. The other two were still undergoing treatment and were expected to be released soon. Doctor May-Ling Chen ¡­ Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. May-Ling! Good for her. He still remembered the debate he had with her last week during the presentation of the Scientist of the Year Award. Her research was the total opposite of his. He continued to flip the channels. He came to the Discovery channel where there was a program on the Egyptian Treasures. On the screen were the pyramids in Giza. This looked interesting, but there was nothing new here. He was born there and had visited there many times already. There was nothing this Western narrator could say that he had not already known since he was a kid. He wanted to flip to the next channel, but his finger seemed to be frozen. He tried hard to press the next channel button, but his finger did not respond at all. An image of the Sphinx came into view. The narrator continued. Of all the wonders in the Giza desert, none can compare with the mystery of the Sphinx¡­ The image on the TV screen seemed to jump out at him. The monologue of the narrator droned on and on¡­ Presently the image of the Sphinx had changed and come alive. The powerful head turned towards the screen looking directly at him and the left paw softened and waved at him, beckoning him to come. He tried to flip the channel on the remote, but his finger refused to move. The lion paws waved to him three times and then solidified to its former dignified state. He flipped to another channel. More soap operas. He sat back in his recliner. There were no more questions about what should be his next move. He had to go back to Giza and visit the Sphinx one more time. He did not know what would happen there, but he knew he just had to go. Vol.3 Chap.41 Trust and respect ***** Vol.3 Chap.41 Trust and respect ***** The next morning, Frank used his laptop to get a one-way ticket to Cairo. Though last-minute tickets were typically expensive, he could find some hacker deals on the web, albeit via a circuitous route, leaving in two days. The route would take him from Pittsburgh to Chicago, then JFK, before a direct flight to Cairo. He also arranged for a car from Cairo for a week. With no idea when or if he would be back, he called Mark to housesit for him. ¡°Mark, are you in the office?¡± ¡°Yes, Dr. Abdulcizi.¡± ¡°Are you free for lunch today? I wanted to talk to you about your program.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°How about meeting me at the Soup & Salad place on Main and University at 11 this morning?¡± ¡°No problem, but why not at your office?¡± Mark sounded a bit suspicious. ¡°I won¡¯t be coming into the office today.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± ¡°Mark, can you also make a copy of the latest version of your program for me?¡± ¡°No problem. Is anything wrong? Are you ok?¡± ¡°Everything is fine. By the way, can you also bring a copy of the school newspaper?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°Great, see you later.¡± Mark showed up right at 11. Frank smiled and shook his hands. He himself came a few minutes earlier and had taken a table towards the back. ¡°I hope this is ok. I thought it would be easier to talk back here. It is quieter.¡± ¡°That is fine. Here is the program that you wanted.¡± Mark handed him a thumb drive. ¡°Thanks.¡± Frank took the thumb drive and tucked it away into his briefcase. ¡°Thanks for coming this morning.¡± ¡°Is something wrong? Everybody was talking about you this morning.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Oh? What about?¡± ¡°Dr. Thomas said you have finally flipped. Dr. Cromwell said you have gone crazy. Dr. Brasheer said you have gone off the deep end. The secretaries all whispered among themselves, but I don¡¯t know what they were mumbling about.¡± ¡°Do you think that I have gone crazy?¡± Mark took a long look at his professor for six years. ¡°No, you don¡¯t look crazy to me. But it is unusual that you don¡¯t show up to work on time this morning. I don¡¯t believe that I have ever seen you not working in your office whenever you are in town. Are you feeling alright?¡± ¡°I am fine, Mark. Apparently, you have not heard what has happened?¡± ¡°No, what happened?¡± ¡°Where is the school newspaper?¡± ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Give me a minute,¡± Frank said. He fumbled through the school paper and found the article hidden on the third page. ¡°Here, read this.¡± ¡°Prominent Scientist Received Award¡± Mark read the title first, and continued to read the article. ¡°The administration has learned that Dr. Frank Abdulcizi, the George W. Smith Professor of Computer Science, has recently received the most prestigious award, the Scientist of the Year Award, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.¡± ¡°Wow, congratulations to you, Dr. Abdulcizi. I am most pleased to have this opportunity to work with you. ¡®Scientist of the Year Award,¡¯ this is quite an honor.¡± Mark was flabbergasted by the news. ¡°All kudos to you guys. It is really an honor on the team.¡± ¡°You deserved it with all your hard work.¡± ¡°Go on, the best is yet to come.¡± ¡°The Provost Office is proud to announce that Dr. Abdulcizi will head up the new Program Review efforts and will work with the Provost Office in a full-time capacity for this endeavor.¡± Mark put down the paper with a puzzled look on his face. ¡°You are working full time in the Provost Office now? What about the research projects, the team, me?¡± Mark got very panicky. ¡°That¡¯s what I want to talk to you about this morning. But before that, let¡¯s get some food first?¡± ¡°No argument there.¡± They got up and got some food and sat down to eat. ¡°Mark, before I begin, let me ask you something. Have you ever seen me fudge or manipulate the research data to get another publication or presentation?¡± ¡°No, in fact, you stopped me from publishing two papers, remember?¡± ¡°Yes, I remember. Have you ever seen me inappropriately contact anyone we worked with?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Not even sexually.¡± ¡°Especially not sexually.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°What is this all about?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. I wanted to hear you say that.¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, why do you want to go to the Provost Office?¡± ¡°Mark, I didn¡¯t want to go. I was ordered to go. I have been placed on administrative leave.¡± ¡°Administrative leave?¡± Mark blurted it out loudly. ¡°Shh.¡± ¡°Oops, sorry. What happened?¡± ¡°I have been accused of academic dishonesty and sexual harassment.¡± ¡°Really? No, you are pulling my leg,¡± Mark exclaimed! ¡°Mark, I am not joking.¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, how can anyone accuse you of this?¡± Mark enquired, not believing his ears. ¡°Well, somebody did not like me very much, I guess.¡± ¡°Still, how can anyone accuse you of this?¡± ¡°Well, it happened.¡± ¡°But¡­but¡­¡± Mark sat them with his mouth wide open. He did not know what to say? He stared at Dr. Abdulcizi, his mentor for the past six years. ¡°Anyway, I am not here to discuss this.¡± ¡°Still, how can anyone do that to you?¡± ¡°I have a good idea what happened, but it is not important.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°You will find out, eventually.¡± Frank looked at Mark, his mentee for the past six years. Can I really trust Mark? Will he also turn on me as well? He has worked with me for six long years. He had never once given me a hint that he was not grateful. Does it matter anymore? Vol.3 Chap.42 A strange request ***** Vol.3 Chap.42 A strange request ***** Deep within, Frank felt Mark can be trusted. He turned to Mark with imploring eyes. ¡°But what I really want to talk to you this morning is something else.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°I have a favor to ask.¡± ¡°You know I will do anything.¡± ¡°Yes, that is why I am asking you. Mark, you are the only one I can trust right now. You are the only one I can depend on.¡± ¡°Well, you can always count on me.¡± ¡°Thanks, I appreciated that. Mark, I am planning on visiting my home country.¡± ¡°Egypt?¡± ¡°Yes, how long I will be gone? I really don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°That is nice. I wish I can go to Egypt sometime.¡± ¡°It is a beautiful country with lots of history and mystery. I sincerely hope that you will get a chance to visit there.¡± He paused then continued. ¡°I wonder if you would house sit my apartment for me while I am gone.¡± ¡°Sure, I will be happy to do that.¡± ¡°It could be months because I don¡¯t know what I will do yet.¡± ¡°No problem. I am not sure I can afford your rent, though.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to pay for anything.¡± ¡°Well, that is generous of you. Thank you.¡± ¡°No, thank YOU. My pay for the next year will automatically be deposited electronically into my account. I have the signature card for the account and I am adding you to the account. Here, sign here.¡± Frank handed Mark the bank¡¯s signature card. ¡°Are you sure you wanted to do this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to bother with sending you money every month. It is ok to me putting you in charge of my account.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Well, I will not fail you.¡± Mark signed the card and handed it back to Frank. ¡°Use my account to pay for any incidentals. Rent and utilities should be automatically deducted from my bank account.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± ¡°The school should deposit my paycheck directly to the account, at least for now. With the savings, you should be able to survive temporarily for a while.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there will be any problem.¡± Frank took another bite of the salad, and Mark finished the rest on his plate. ¡°Excellent salad. I am going to get more.¡± Frank said. ¡°Me too.¡± They both got up and filled their plate again. ¡°Mark, here is my personal email account if you need to contact me. This account is for you and you only.¡± ¡°Can do.¡± ¡°Under no circumstance are you to give out this email account.¡± ¡°Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir.¡± ¡°If you need to contact me, send a message to this email account. Eventually, I will find time to reply to you somehow, though it may not be immediately.¡± ¡°It sounds like you are going to disappear.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know what I am doing.¡± ¡°What about the mail and the newspaper?¡± ¡°It is up to you whether you want to continue the newspaper subscription and the cable for the apartment. I will pay for them if you find them useful.¡± ¡°Well, thanks. I will quit the newspaper, but I will keep the cable.¡± ¡°That is fine. Don¡¯t worry about forwarding my mail. Open all my mail at home. If it is a bill, pay it. In the meantime, cancel all my society memberships.¡± ¡°All?¡± ¡°Yes, all my memberships. If there are any charges on my credit cards, please pay for them from my account.¡± ¡°No problem, boss.¡± Frank took another spoonful of his minestrone soup. He was spooning the soup in and savoring every swallow. ¡°I have one last request, Mark.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Here is the power of attorney allowing you to act on my behalf. I don¡¯t envision that you need to use it. But just in case, I am empowering you to act on my behalf in any matters. I trust you will be careful with this and be responsible for your actions.¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, are you sure you want to do this?¡± ¡°It is probably nothing, and I am not expecting you to have to use this. But in case there is anything unexpected coming up; you will be empowered to act on my behalf under my direction, of course.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Well, that is about all. I am counting on you, Mark.¡± ¡°You can count on me.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mark.¡± ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi, I don¡¯t know what to say. But I have to say that you have never wronged me throughout the past six years and I still and will forever hold you to the highest esteem, regardless of what others may say.¡± With teary eyes, Frank replied with gratitude, ¡°Mark, thank you. Thank you indeed. You don¡¯t know how much what you just said meant to me.¡± They both sat in silence for a while. ¡°Oh, before I forget, here is a copy of the key to the apartment. I will leave first thing tomorrow morning and the house is yours.¡± ¡°Gee thanks. Do you need a ride?¡± ¡°No, I will call a cab. Thanks for the offer and thanks for the program.¡± ¡°Anything else I can help before you go?¡± ¡°Everything is under control. I¡¯ve got a few errands to run, so I am going to leave first.¡± ¡°I am done as well.¡± Frank paid for the lunch and shook Mark¡¯s hand enthusiastically for the longest time outside the restaurant. They parted, both almost in tears. They had a good working relationship for six years. To the point that Frank almost treated Mark as a son. Frank knew he could implicitly trust Mark after observing and working with him for so long. Mark had depended on Frank all these years. Now, it is Frank¡¯s turn to depend on Mark. Vol.3 Chap.43 Chance meeting ***** Vol.3 Chap.43 Chance meeting ***** On the following day, Frank packed lightly, enough to fit everything inside a single carryon. He took a couple of clean shirts and pants, some T-shirts, underwear, and half a dozen of heavy-duty socks. From the hall closet, he grabbed his sneakers. Satisfied with the packing, he was ready to go. The only other piece of carry on was his laptop, an inseparable piece of equipment that traveled with him everywhere. He called for a cab and headed for the airport with no goodbyes to anyone. His life and research work were taken away from him in one swift move. He had no family here and whatever friends he had; they were all research partners and colleagues that he had no desire to talk to presently. He took the flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago. A bumpy one causing him to close his eyes and rest. He was very thankful and relieved when the plane landed at O¡¯Hare. They had to circle around the airport three times before the plane was given permission to land. There, he boarded one of the latest 797 planes from Boeing that gave a very comfortable and stable ride. In no time, they arrived at JFK. Frank wished he could stay on the plane longer. He was the last person to get off. At long last, Frank stood up to leave when the plane emptied out. He thanked the pilot for a smooth flight and headed for the connecting gate. As much as he had traveled in the past 25 years, he still had problems finding his way around JFK. Every time he came here, something would have changed and he would inevitably get lost again. Since the airport had several terminals, he always got lost deciding which terminal building to go and, along the way, got lost again while going from one terminal building to another. He finally found the terminal for the National Egyptian Airline and checked in. As he headed for the gate, he took time to browse through all the shops along the way. After all, he had three hours to kill. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Dr. Abdulcizi!¡± Frank was walking towards the International Departure area when he heard his name. Frank turned around and found a familiar face. ¡°Frank! What a coincidence!¡± The voice belonged to Dr. Abrahamson. ¡°Oh hi, Chris. Yes, what a coincidence. Are you going to another conference?¡± ¡°No, I have to fly to Cambridge in England to give a lecture tomorrow.¡± ¡°Wow, you are really a world traveler. Do you have time to sit down for a cup of coffee?¡± ¡°Sure, my flight will not leave for another two hours.¡± ¡°Good, let¡¯s go to the International Caf¨¦. I think it is near Gate G15.¡± ¡°Lead the way, as long as we stayed away from any heavy discussions.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a deal. By the way, I saw you on TV yesterday.¡± Frank replied. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t believe a word of it. What they showed you was totally taken out of context. Somehow, they have a way to show the exact opposite of what you say.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth? I hate the way they butcher up the interview. I was interviewed by KFFF, our local station, for evening news once and after they are finished with the editing, it sounded like I did the most hideous research that no one in the right mind should give me any money.¡± ¡°Yeah! What happens to honest journalism? I thought this was a free country. There should not be any threat of censorship here.¡± ¡°No, but there are biases of the journalists and the editors.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t win, can we?¡± ¡°Nope. Oh, here is the Caf¨¦.¡± They found a place and sat down close to the front. They both ordered a cup of cappuccino. ¡°Are you going to a conference somewhere, Frank?¡± ¡°No, not this time. I am going back home for a little R&R.¡± ¡°R&R?¡± ¡°Something that you know nothing about.¡± ¡°Actually, traveling is my R&R. I love to travel.¡± ¡°I have no doubt.¡± ¡°I am going to talk to the Board of directors of my institute. I like to invite you to come for a guest lecture.¡± ¡°I loved to. Let me know when and I will be there.¡± They had a bit more chitchat. ¡°Well, it is about time for my flight.¡± ¡°Have a good one.¡± ¡°I will. I am glad I ran into you.¡± ¡°Same here. See you around.¡± ¡°Bye.¡± Chris stood up and left with no idea that being Frank¡¯s only friend, what was really happening with him. Vol.3 Chap.44 Back to Cairo ***** Vol.3 Chap.44 Back to Cairo ***** Frank boarded the plane for Cairo in the late evening. It will be a long flight. He never liked these ten-hour flights. With all the running around in the past few days, he was physically tired. After what he pretended to be a sumptuous dinner with the scanty in-flight meals in the main cabin, he fell asleep quickly but was rudely awakened when breakfast was served an hour and a half before landing. After a cup of strong coffee, he was refreshed and ready to face the day. The plane landed at a new airport. After being away for twenty-five years, he meandered around the airport like a tourist in a strange country, even though he was born here. He looked around and gawked at all the decorations. The airport was new, beautiful, and modern. He had never been to this new airport. While everyone hurried past, trying to get through passport control and customs as quickly as possible, he took his time. He strolled down the long corridors admiring the modernization efforts his childhood country had accomplished, such as automatic walkways for long corridors and escalators for stairs. He was amazed at all the contactless faucets and drinking fountains. After passport control and customs, no more lines existed since he was the last one on the flight to come through. They waved him through. He fit the image of a tourist, not a terrorist. He had no luggage to claim, so he proceeded outside to pick up his rental car. Though he had spent time in Cairo, he really did not have very many friends there. He drove around, looking at the sights. Some places remained the same. Other neighborhoods were completely torn down, only to be replaced by high-rise apartments and multi-story supermarkets. He drove to his alma-mater, the National University of Egypt. The university was still there. Nothing has changed. He fought the urge to stop but he had more urgent things in mind. There will be time to come back and visit. Frank told himself. One thing he must do, to stop by the cemetery and pay respect to Catherine, his beloved wife. He headed there and was amazed how much the country and the city had changed. Frank got lost three times and had to stop and ask for directions. At last, he arrived. He bought some fresh flowers from the local flower shop and was surprised he had no trouble locating Catherine¡¯s grave. The headstone read, ¡®To my beloved Catherine.¡¯ The sight of the headstone brought back waves and waves of memory. He sat down and wept and wept for the longest time. In his mind, he remembered all the fun times they had, the places they had gone to, the hard times and the good times. He recalled the accident. The flames of the burning bus, as real to him now as then to his wife. Even though after twenty-five years, the event and her funeral was as real now as then. How could he forget? This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He took time to tell Catherine everything that had happened during the last twenty-five years, how he had remained faithful all these years, the reason he had not been back to see her and visit her was because of his research work. No! He had not been back because he could not bear the thoughts of being with her and apart from her again. He told her he had to stay away and concentrate on his work because he did not know what else to do. It was too painful in his heart every time he thought about her. He told her there was no pictures of her visible in the apartment and in the office because he wanted nothing to remind him of his happiness with her. He apologized profusely about his stubbornness and his absence, and he begged for her forgiveness. Strangely, he was relieved for the first time. An enormous burden had been lifted from him. He was free because he knew she understood. After a brief period of silence, he told her all the major events that had happened for the twenty-five years. He told her all the exciting research he had done in Pittsburgh, the wonderful discovery about the genetic coding of violent traits, about getting the Scientist of the Year Award, about the struggles and dilemmas within him. He asked her for her advice. Then he told her how he had been betrayed by his post-doc, how his career had come to an abrupt end, and how he saw the Sphinx in his illusions. Finally, he told her he did not know what he should do next and asked her once more for her omnipotent guidance. The afternoon flew by. He decided to check into a local hotel and spent the night in Cairo. He had some shopping and driving ahead of him on the following day. After a long and peaceful sleep, he woke up refreshed the following morning. He had a hearty breakfast at the restaurant. The night before, he was so tired that he had never unpacked. Grabbing his carryon and his laptop, he checked out and headed towards the shopping district. Intending to go camping next to the Sphinx for a week as prior times with Catherine during childhood, he went shopping for supplies. As he was gathering supplies, the urge to get to the bottom of his illusions grew steadily. He did not know why the illusions of the Sphinx had been so real. He had no clue why he had been drawn toward the statue and no hint of what was there or even if there would be anything there. It seemed there was an unseen magnetism drawing him there, an unseen force that grew and grew the closer he got to the Sphinx. He must find out what this was all about. He got some local currency from the ATMs with his credit card. On a hunch, he drove to the university district because he knew the shops well in that area. He stopped at one store and picked up a full pack of water and some of his favorite dried fruit mix with dates, apricots, and apples. He headed down the street to the bakery shop and bought some pumpkin-nickel bread. Further down the street, he stopped at a dried meat store and picked up several pounds of dried, pickled mutton and beef. Within an hour, he bought more than he could carry. The carry-on luggage appeared to be of little use for camping, so he returned to the university district for some proper camping gear at a sports center and stocked up on what he needed, a good hefty backpack with a good size canteen. He also picked up some typical portable camping tools like a foldable shovel, some matches, a good flashlight with an extra set of batteries, a small portable tent, and a small sleeping bag. Not that he needed all these things, but he wanted to be prepared. By the time he finished shopping, the morning had swiftly slipped by. But being eager to get going, he stopped by a small street side vendor and bought some deliciously stuffed pita bread. Vol.3 Chap.45 An old friend ***** Vol.3 Chap.45 An old friend ***** Finally, it was time to head to the desert. Because of the tourist trade, the government had put in a six-lane highway leading from Cairo to the Giza Plateau. Along the way, he met countless tourist buses and vans. Loads and loads of tourists flocked to see the pyramids and the Sphinx. The place must be crowded during the day, with all the tourists gawking at the marvel of the architecture and the mystery. But for him, he no longer marveled at the architecture, but still intrigued by the mystery the Sphinx held. When driving towards his destination, Frank was joyful and elated. He had made peace with his wife Catherine yesterday, something that he could not have done but should have done a long time ago. He had the sense of freedom and peace. Released from his family burden, released from the rat race at the university, released from the pressure of research and getting ahead in the professional community, thinking back, he wondered how did he survived for so long in that pressure cooker. He surprised himself that he was humming an old nursery tune while driving down the highway. When he arrived at the Giza desert, it was already in the late afternoon. He drove straight to the gate of the administrative area and asked for Barak, his old friend in charge of admission. He really did not know if Barak would still be there or not. After all, it had been twenty-five years since he had been back. To his surprise, Barak came out grinning from side to side. ¡°Frank, Frank, my old friend,¡± said Barak as he came out from behind the corridor into the lobby with his outstretched arms. ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°Great, Barak.¡± They shook hands and embraced each other for the longest time. ¡°Come, come into my office.¡± ¡°Quite an establishment you¡¯ve got here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. Here, sit down here while I go fetch some tea.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± When Barak came back with the tea, Frank said, ¡°You looked well, Barak. How are your wife and kids?¡± ¡°They are fine. The kids are all gone from the house now.¡± Barak said as he fixed the tea for him and brought it over to the table. ¡°You had three children, right?¡± Frank said, as he took a sip of the tea. ¡°Yes, the oldest son is working in Cairo with the Department of Archaeology. The oldest daughter is here working with me in the Parks Division, overseeing the activities in the Giza Plateau. The youngest daughter is finishing college in Cairo.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Wow, you have done well, my friend.¡± ¡°Thanks. What brought you here today?¡± ¡°Well, I thought I would see the Sphinx and spend a week camping on the plateau.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t done that for a long time. The last time you were here, you and Catherine told me you were spending the night. You ended up spending three nights and got me all worried. If I did not know you better, I would have organized a massive man-hunt for you and Catherine.¡± ¡°Well, I promise you I would not do that again.¡± ¡°Ya, ya, ya.¡± Barak looked at him. ¡°You are alone?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you want to go camping?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Camping alone by yourself?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You are as crazy as before, if not crazier.¡± ¡°I have always been crazy. I am a crazy old fool. You should know that by now.¡± They both laughed. ¡°How long are you going to camp this time?¡± ¡°Five days.¡± ¡°Five days by yourself? You are crazier than I thought.¡± ¡°Worse.¡± They both laughed heartily again. ¡°Okay, drive your car to the service entrance at the side of the building and park the car in the employee¡¯s parking lot. I will monitor the car while you are gone.¡± ¡°Thanks, Barak. You are a real pal.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s what friends are for.¡± After parking the car and unloading all the gear, Frank went back to Barak. ¡°Barak, before I go on my way, I want to ask you for a favor.¡± ¡°Go ahead, old friend.¡± ¡°Here is my car key. Use it while I am gone. I have full insurance on it.¡± Then Frank leaned forward to Barak and whispered in Barak¡¯s ears. ¡°If I do not show up in five days, please return the rental car and forget you have ever seen me here today?¡± Barak sat back and took a long look at his friend while shaking his head. He could not believe his ears. He had always respected Frank since childhood, and he knew Frank was not crazy. But he did not understand what Frank was asking. Not that he did not trust his friend, but the request was too unusual. He did not know what to think. He knew Frank took it very hard when his wife Catherine died. But he knew Frank was a survivor. He had heard about his accomplishments over the years and was happy about his progress. Finally, Barak blurted out to Frank, ¡°You are not planning on doing anything stupid, are you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You are not in trouble with the law, are you?¡± ¡°Wrong again.¡± ¡°Are you crazy?¡± ¡°Certifiably so!¡± Only Frank laughed this time. ¡°Calm down, Barak. I will tell you.¡± Frank told him the entire story, particularly the part about the illusions of the Sphinx. ¡°So, you see, I really don¡¯t know the real reason I am here and I really don¡¯t know why there is such attraction and urge coming to the Sphinx. Therefore, I have to go there and see what happens. Maybe nothing would happen and I will be back in five days knowing that there is really nothing to these illusions.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say, Frank.¡± ¡°Wish me good luck.¡± ¡°What if something happens to you?¡± ¡°Well, there must be a reason I was drawn there.¡± ¡°I am still uneasy about the whole thing.¡± ¡°Well, I am thankful that you are looking out for me. I had to look out for myself for so many years; it is reassuring to have someone else looking out for me.¡± Barak sat for a moment flipping his calendar on his desk, and then said to Frank, ¡°I have a couple of days of vacation left. Let me go with you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Barak. That means a lot to me, old friend. But you still have a family to take care of. I do not know what I will meet out there. I cannot accept the responsibility for your safety and drag you and your family into my craziness.¡± ¡°I really wanted to go with you.¡± ¡°Let me go alone this time. When I come back, there will be plenty of time for us to go camping again with your family.¡± ¡°Alright, if you promise, you will be back.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± They sat silently for a minute. ¡°Since it is getting late, the tourists should all be gone by now. Can you drop me off at the Sphinx?¡± ¡°No problem, but before that, at least let me give you a toast for good luck.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll appreciate that.¡± Barak toasted him for good luck. He toasted back for good health for Barak¡¯s family. Barak drove him directly to the Sphinx. A short drive. They arrived at the Sphinx and unloaded the gear. He turned and took Barak¡¯s hand and held it tight. With teary eyes, they hugged for a long time. ¡°Thank you for everything, Barak. Your friendship, your understanding, and your help.¡± Vol.3 Chap.46 The first night ***** Vol.3 Chap.46 The first night ***** With mixed emotions, Frank turned around, picked up his gear, and walked towards the Sphinx. He heard Barak start the car and drove away. Finally, he was alone and, more importantly, at the place of his calling. A sense of peace overwhelmed him. It was already dusk and all the tourists were gone. He walked to the front of the Sphinx and laid down all his gears, emptied his backpack, selected some dried fruit, a small piece of bread, a bottle of water, and the flashlight. He then walked around the Sphinx. Everything, every stone, every feature, was just as he remembered. After twenty-five years, some wind erosion on the seams of the rocks at the base could be seen. He stretched his hand and touched the rock. It was cold and rough. He walked around the Sphinx and let his hand pass from one stone to another. The stones were as solid as ever. In his mind, he could see Catherine and him holding hands, running around the base, carefree and happy together. They played hide and seek, circling the Sphinx round and round, trying to evade the other person. Somehow, she was always better at the game than he was. Although one time, he climbed up two levels of the rock and just watched her circling round and round in frustration. Finally, he could not hold his laughter anymore and laughed out loud. That was when she finally discovered where he was. Then she climbed up to where he was and they both laughed and laughed and laughed. Sometimes, they would climb up to the top of the Sphinx. Their favorite spot was the lion¡¯s head. Like two little kids, they would scramble up and sat there holding hands, swinging their legs in the air. They were too young to be afraid of anything. In fact, this was the place when he first kissed her on the cheek, the place when she first kissed him on the lips, and the place when he proposed to her. Yes, this place was full of memories of them. He found the spot where they used to climb up to the top of the Sphinx. It all came back to him and he climbed up to the top in no time. He came to the lion¡¯s head and sat down at their favorite place. He looked around the place. Because of its height and because it had been a clear day, he could see a long way out. He could see the other pyramids in the distance. The sun was just setting, and the pyramids cast long shadows on the plateau. Without the tourists, it was very peaceful and serene everywhere. There were no sounds anywhere around. He felt liberated, released, and at peace that he finally was in the right place. He shouted ¡°Hallelujah¡± at the top of his voice. Then he sat down at his favorite spot. The view was stunning. Even though he had seen the same view many times already, he still savored the view. He stretched out on the top of the statue because he wanted to watch the sunset. The sight was spectacular when there was nothing to hide the view. The sun slowly slid down over the horizon and changed color along the way. Frank was awed. As the sun descended some more, the hustling and bustling activities of the day seemed to have died down. There was a sense of tranquility, like a blanket falling over the plateau. The blanket covered everything in the valley, covered the good things and the bad things, covered all the activities nearby. The blanket left a sense of stillness and silence all around. The sun slid down further and the shadows grew longer. The distant pyramids and mountains became picturesque, like a painting on a canvas while the air was still. Occasionally, one could hear a bird squawking from the distance. The sky became more reddish. The change in color is subtle, gradual, and majestic, like the setting glory of a once powerful empire. A few clouds here and there hanged high above, reflecting the last remaining reddish light of the sun in their last effort to capture all that the sun could give for this earth. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The sun sank lower. It was just above the horizon now. The shadows got longer still. A slight chill pervaded the air. The sun was on the horizon now. Its brightness was very much tempered. It was no longer threatening when one stared straight at the sun now. One can no longer see the artificial structures in the distant city. Instead, one could only see the silhouette of the distant mountains forming an eerie atmosphere around. He got up and started his way down the Sphinx, but had to stop several times to look back and enjoy the color change as the sun descended further. Coming down was no trouble at all since he had been through this route many times already, though not recently. At the base of the statue, he circled around to the front, right between the two paws, a secret spot for Frank and Catherine. They loved to go there because the two paws rose all around, forming a natural wall with a single opening. This was the place where they first made passionate love to one another. Sometimes, they would just lie there all night looking at the stars, pondering on the weighty things like the beginning of the universe or the number of stars as far as they could see. Most of the time, they would just chitchat and enjoy one another¡¯s company. This was their secret hiding place. He found the secret spot again. He carried all his gear there. Almost without thinking, he unrolled the sleeping bag on the ground and lay down. The sun was gone. The job of illuminating the earth was now passed onto the moon. He could see a few stars high above but could not name them since he had forgotten all his astronomy from high school. He took out some of his food and water. The dried dates were good. They were just the way he liked them when he was young. He took some bread and tore a few chunks of dried mutton. As he was munching on the meat, he was thinking how peaceful and delightful life would be without all the hassles and headaches. He was amazed that he did not miss his work at all. After a leisurely and satisfying meal, he stood up and walked around. Now that he had arrived at the Sphinx, what next? He had no clue what to do next. Would a spaceship come to take him away? Perhaps an old acquaintance would come and pick him up? He doubted very much. No one knew he was here. Perhaps a door would open? To get attention, he shouted on top of his voice, ¡°Sesame Open!¡± He listened. There was nothing, no echoes, no movements, no sound. Perhaps he was not at the right place, so he ran around the Sphinx shouting ¡°Sesame Open.¡± There was no response anywhere. Then he ran around again, shouting his name, ¡°This is Frank! Open the door. I command you to open.¡± There was no response again. He ran around again, shouting his full name in desperation. ¡°I am Frank Abdulcizi! I am Frank Abdulcizi!¡± Nothing. If anyone was watching, he would look utterly silly and perhaps totally crazy. But he did not care. He had been summoned here by his illusions. Something must happen here. Perhaps there was some secret lever around the Sphinx that would open a secret door. He ran around the statue again, touching and pushing every stone within reach. Nothing. All the stones were at the right place as he had remembered them. After an hour or more of circling the Sphinx, he was getting tired, and impatient as well. He returned to his spot and lay on the sleeping bag and stared at the stars. He looked around again. Everything was still. The night was calm, and there was no breeze at all. Neither was there any sound. ¡°This is Frank Abdulcizi. I am here. Take me!¡± He shouted on top of his voice. Again, no response. ¡°This is Frank Abdulcizi. Can anyone hear me?¡± No reply. ¡°If there is anyone here, please make a sign.¡± There was no sign, no movement at all, just the sound of his own breathing. I come all the way here for nothing! He said to himself, discouraged. ¡°Well, at least I got to visit Catherine¡¯s grave and saw Barak again.¡± But he did not know what he should do with the rest of the week, and even more so for the rest of his life. ¡°Well, I am just going to enjoy the rest of my camping trip.¡± He declared loudly to himself. The plan was to camp for five days and he gave himself five days here at the Sphinx. At least he would wait five days before making any further decisions. Five days of adventure. He told himself. In his dreamy state when he was half awake and half asleep, he noticed the statue seemed to stand up. He tried to jump up but found that he could not move, since his consciousness had not returned to him yet. The paws of the Sphinx pointed inwards. As he followed the direction where the paws were pointing, there was an open door. He snapped back into consciousness, stunned and dazed. Fully awaken, he looked at the statue, but it was just the same as before. Was that an invitation? Was that the response he was waiting for? Was that the reply that he was seeking? Was that the instruction he should follow? He scratched his head. Perhaps. But how? Vol.3 Chap.47 Subsequent days ***** Vol.3 Chap.47 Subsequent days ***** Frank had a peaceful rest until the sun broke through the early morning fog. He decided that during the day, with all the tourists coming around, he would stay out of sight by visiting other pyramids normally not open to the public. At dawn, when the tourists were gone, he would come back to the Sphinx and spend his nights at his favorite spot. Packing up his stuff quickly, he looked at the Sphinx in hope of some sign or change, but the Sphinx remained as elusive and cold as ever. He walked around the Sphinx, and the stones were just as they were yesterday. Nothing had changed. Disappointed, he picked up his backpack and headed towards an excavation site on the far side of the plateau. When he was a way off from the Sphinx, he found a little rising. Having climbed to the top, he sat down. The desert was beautiful and serene. He could see the Sphinx, standing majestically at the front, guarding the way to the plateau. The head was standing tall, proudly showing the ingenuity of its maker. The body was wide and encompassing, showing the wealth and riches of its maker. What treasure and wealth lie within? He wondered. There was just an insatiable urge and curiosity to find out the mystery of the Sphinx. Why was the Sphinx built? What secrets and mystery were harbored within the statue? Of course, he knew the traditional legend of the Sphinx well since he was young. Somehow, the legends did not satisfy him. There was always an itch within him to understand the mystery. He knew there got to be something more, but do not know what he was searching for and much less what he would find. He stared at the statue for a long time as he feasted on his provisions. No vision came this time. The statue did not transform or morph into a living tiger, just the same old statue, standing tall and majestic, holding tight its secrets. As the sun rose further above the sky, he joined a team of archeologists who were excavating a neighboring pyramid. After offering his services, he was taught, like a novice, how to use a brush and a small pick to slowly and painstakingly uncover the remains in one tomb. As he worked, he was constantly amazed at the story being told by his partner, a young graduate student named Irene from his alma mater. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After learning that he was an alumnus, she became very talkative, telling him everything she knew about archaeology. He was sure that she would make up stories about the life of Pharaoh and his men. Naturally, he was quite entertained. In fact, he thought his progress was too slow because he was listening to her more than he should have. Though the job was tedious, his partner made the job interesting with her imaginations and stories and make-beliefs. The morning passed quickly. During lunch, she brought him to the headquarter to meet with some of the other diggers on the site. Frank was intrigued by the scientific equipment that one scientist was using. His name is Joe, one of the head scientists. He found out that archaeology has been substantially modernized in recent years. After finding out that Frank was an alumnus of the National University of Cairo and a prominent scientist in the US in computer science, Joe immediately enlisted his help in developing software for their new equipment. Of course, Frank was more than happy to do so. His first task was to interface the sonar equipment to a laptop computer for instant data acquisition. The sonar penetration machine was used by the archeologists to probe the grounds and walls of the pyramids. Using ultrasound, the scientists were hoping to look for caverns and empty spaces inside the rock structures. Since any rooms or caverns would contain air, these rooms would show up as dark spots in the sonar scans. Using the sonar scans from different locations, a three-dimensional (3D) view of the insides of the pyramid can be constructed. This 3D view could then guide the archeologist to plan their dig. The task was tedious and was analogous to taking a computerized tomography of a human body. Presently, the tasks were accomplished by a team of trained archeologists who half-guessed and half-derived scientifically what the 3D picture would look like. Recognizing the need and Frank¡¯s skills, Joe immediately recruited him to the task. The interface task was quite easy. He got that done in an afternoon. With the interface done, the images from the sonar scans can be directly transmitted to the laptop computers for storage and later correlated together to form a cohesive picture. That was his second task which was quite a challenging task, especially when he did not have all the tools that were available to him back at the Carnegie Institute. But with a little ingenuity, he developed what he needed and so worked tirelessly for four days and four nights with hardly any sleep at all. Towards the end of the fourth day, he got the program finished. He was so proud of his program that he rushed to show Joe the result. What was most exciting was that as he put all the collected images together, Frank discovered a small room at the side of one of the main rooms, a side room hat was easily overlooked. Joe was so excited that he halted their planned excursion to the other side of the pyramid so that they could concentrate on the digging towards the newly discovered room. After a nice and jovial dinner, Frank strolled outside, contented that he had done his good deed with the team. Vol.3 Chap.48 Secret discovery ***** Vol.3 Chap.48 Secret discovery ***** Not much of a poker player, Frank went outside and scanned the horizon. Admiring the view of the Giza Plateau, he spotted the Sphinx in the distance, glistening in the evening sun. At first, he was mesmerized by the Sphinx. Then a lightning bolt stroked him. He bolted into the tent and headed straight for Joe. ¡°Joe!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Joe responded without looking up. He was deep in a poker game with the other archeologists. ¡°May I borrow your sonar scan for the evening? There is a mount over there I want to scan.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Thanks, I will be back in the morning.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Frank was ecstatic, although he tried to conceal his emotions as best as he could. He quickly entered the tent, picked up his backpack and the sonar scanner, and left the tent sites. It was already getting dark, but he knew the way well. He walked briskly instead of jogging for fear of damaging the equipment. It took him quite a few hours to get back to the Sphinx. By the time he arrived, it was way past midnight, but he had no time to waste. He immediately unpacked the sonar scanner and began collecting sonar images of the Sphinx from different angles and at different spots. When the first scan came back, Frank glanced at the image and saw a large black spot. That was an excited find. He knew that the large black spot showed that there was a cavern inside the Sphinx. That was just what he needed. Frank kept on collecting images from different angles and from different positions. After another two hours, he was satisfied that he had collected enough sonar images. As soon as he finished collecting the images, he set his program to work and to beep when the program was done. Then he lay down and was asleep in no time. He did not sleep well. In his dream, he saw the Sphinx springing into life as an oversize tiger. It was chasing him all over the Valley. When it caught up with him, the tiger would swallow him whole. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. At another time, he saw a ghostly figure dressed in skins holding a shepherd¡¯s crook coming out of the mouth of the Sphinx. The figure stood in front of him and motioned him to follow. Afterwards, the figure walked right through the Sphinx and disappeared. Frank tried to follow and felt solid rock as he tried to go through the Sphinx. Frustrated, he sat down and threw stones at the Sphinx. The stones bounced back. After a while, the ghostly figure again reappeared from the mouth of the Sphinx and motioned to him to follow. Once again, the figure walked through the front part of the Sphinx and disappeared. Again, he tried to follow, but could not walk through the stone statue. ¡°Beep, Beep, Beep.¡± Frank rubbed his eyes and looked at his laptop. The words ¡°Program Finished¡± were flashing on the screen. He jumped up and executed another program to display the reconstructed three-dimension picture of the insides of the Sphinx. He was delighted as the display shows a small cavern inside the Sphinx. But the display was too coarse to show if there were any openings and if there were any tunnels leading to the small room. But that is all Frank needed to see. He knew he had to get inside the Sphinx. He did not know how, but somehow, he had to find a way in. He was so engrossed in his findings that he had forgotten about the time. By the time he put his laptop down, the sun was already shining brightly and he heard buses carrying tourists coming to the Sphinx. Quickly, he packed up his gears and headed back towards the tent site. As he was hiking back, he resolved not to say anything about his find. This is a secret only between the Sphinx and him and should remain a secret between the Sphinx and him alone. It was almost midday when he arrived at the familiar rising and had some lunch. As he was feasting on his provisions, he took a few sonar scans of the uprising. Of course, the scans were dull and uninteresting. He wanted it to be that way, anyway. Satisfied, he headed back to the site. He returned the equipment to Joe and gave him a copy of all his programs for 3D reconstruction and left detailed instructions on how to use the program. ¡°Found anything interesting?¡± ¡°Nah. There was an uprising over there. I thought I would make a wonderful discovery, but it was nothing but layers and layers of stone underneath.¡± ¡°Ah, the joys and disappointment of scientific discovery.¡± ¡°I think you are right. I don¡¯t think I am cut out for archaeology. I think I will go back to my computer programming.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mean that you are leaving us so soon?¡± ¡°Well, I have done all I can.¡± ¡°There are lots more programs we would like to have developed.¡± ¡°I am sure you do, but my vacation is ending and I need to go back to keep my students happy.¡± ¡°I understand. Well, good luck.¡± ¡°I left all the code with your assistant, and I want to see you publish your findings with the new program.¡± ¡°You bet I will. We will be happy to put your name on any scientific papers we published from now on.¡± ¡°That is unnecessary. But if you must, you can mention my help in developing the program in the Acknowledgment section.¡± ¡°For sure.¡± ¡°Thanks, Joe, goodbye.¡± ¡°Bye. Hope to see you around again.¡± Vol.3 Chap.49 An open door ***** Vol.3 Chap.49 An open door ***** Frank could not wait to get out of the tent site. He took a circuitous route just so that no one would notice what direction he was going. He felt peaceful and purposeful as he started towards the Sphinx again. It was clear that he had to get inside, but he did not know how. He kept playing his dream repeatedly, but found no interpretation or further insights. As he arrived at the Sphinx, it was already early evening. He was tired since he had little sleep the night before, but he could not resist the temptation of solving the puzzle. He kept reminding himself that there had to be a way in as directed by his dream. He walked around the Sphinx pushing at every stone. Each one is as solid as the earth. None of the stones moved. He tried to feel the cracks around a few stones, but it was too dark to be of use. For the few stones that he tried to feel around the cracks, there was nothing but some loose sand around the cracks. There were no hidden levers, no moving stones. He refined his program to provide a better estimate of the 3D picture from the sonar scans. Then, with a few additional interpolation routines that he recalled from memory, he set his program to re-generate the inside of the Sphinx with four times the resolution. It was way into the evening when he set his program into motion and as he was waiting for the program to work; he re-examined all the legends about the Sphinx looking for clues, but found nothing. With nothing else to do, he took a rest and slept soundly this time. There was no dream and no visions. Beep, beep, beep. Awaken by the computer alarm, he rushed over to his laptop to examine the results. This time, the computer displayed a much better picture of the room inside the Sphinx. An oblong shaped room in the middle of the Sphinx could be seen with one end of the room closer to the front wall than the other side. That must be the opening at the front of the Sphinx. He thought to himself. I can now narrow my search to the front of the Sphinx. Armed with new enthusiasm, Frank concentrated his search towards the front of the Sphinx. He pushed on every stone at the front of the Sphinx. Nothing happened. He touched every crack. Again, nothing. He yelled and cried out and spoke to the stones. Nothing. After an hour of pushing and yelling, he was exhausted, but mostly frustrated. He took out his sleeping bag and sat down. His provisions were running low, so he ate sparingly. Puzzled for now, though not given up. He found a nice, cozy spot in front of the Sphinx. It was a clear night and he could see the stars. He remembered a single astronomy course he took in college and could pick out the big dipper and the North Star. Beyond that, he could not remember the names of any other star constellations. He was drifting slowly into sleep, counting the stars with a nice soft wind over his head. He wished he would know more about astronomy, especially in times like this, so that he could better appreciate the vastness of the universe. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. As he gazed at the sky, he felt very puny. Suddenly, he jumped up. He felt a draft of fresh air blowing over his pillow. From where he was situated, the air should be still. He did not expect a draft to blow over his head. He used his hand to feel the draft. Yes, there was definitely a draft. He groped around and noticed that the draft was coming from the cracks near one of the smaller stones at the front base of the Sphinx. He pushed on the stone and it slid inwards a bit. Puzzled, he was sure that he had pushed and kicked that stone countless times before and it was always rock solid. He pushed the stone some more. The stone gave way a little more. He pushed some more, and the stone slid aside, exposing a small tunnel where fresh air was pouring out of the tunnel. This must be the door! He picked up all his stuff, switched on the flashlight, and squeezed himself through the tunnel, which opened to a small room that was about ten feet wide, twenty feet deep, and eight feet high. Elated, he forgot all about being tired. He was like a little kid in the candy store. With his flashlight, he was looking around the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. Literally, he was in a different world. On the walls, there were many murals painted. Most of the paintings depict the construction of the Sphinx. There were Egyptian taskmasters supervising the construction of the structure, slaves moving blocks and blocks of stones from nearby quarries. At the end of one wall, there was a painting of the dedication of the Sphinx by one of the Pharaohs. It was an elaborate outdoor ceremony in front of the Sphinx with the Pharaoh offering sacrifices to the gods. On the opposite end of the wall, there was a single mural with the Egyptian Pharaoh kneeling before a stone structure that was erected upright from the ground. A ghostly being dressed in skin with a shepherd¡¯s crook stood in front of the structure, receiving the worship from Pharaoh. He recalled no mention of this in any of the legends. He examined the mural again. There was no Sphinx in the picture. But from the topology of the landscape and the background, it was clear that the site must have been where the Sphinx now stood. If so, there must be an upright stone structure somewhere inside or outside the Sphinx. He looked around the room. There were no upright structures, but he saw that there was a stone slab on the floor in the middle of the room. He thought little about the stone slab before, but now was wondering if that slab was the same stone structure in the painting. On top of the mural, there was a short poem written in ancient hieroglyphics. After some great difficulty, He managed to half guess and half translate parts of the poem: ¡­great universe¡­ ¡­countless stars¡­ ¡­bright sun¡­ ¡­living creatures¡­ Nice poem, He thought, but he did not understand what it meant. It must be a legend of the ancient gods visiting earth and Pharaoh bowing down to the visiting deities. He moved on. He looked at his watch. It was close to daybreak. He knew the tourists would come soon, and he was not about to divulge his discovery to the world. But there was so much more to explore in the room here. After considering his predicament for a minute, he preferred to stay inside the Sphinx and sealed the entrance so he could spend the day exploring. He thought that surely there were more secrets than just the murals. He crawled back to the tunnel and carefully moved the stone back to its original place. Click! The stone seemed to lock into place. No matter how hard he tried to move the stone afterwards; he could not budge the stone again. He threw some sand around the crack. Magically, the sand seemed to stick to the stone and seal off the cracks. He tried once more to move the stone, but it would not budge. Guess I¡¯ve found my sarcophagus. He thought. He was getting tired and so he lay down and slept soundly till what must be late morning outside. There was no way to tell since He was inside the Sphinx. He would have to trust his watch to tell him the time from now on. When he awoke, he revisited the small tunnel and tried in vain to move the stone again. Then he sat down and laughed at himself. He thought to himself; I try so hard to get in and now I want to get out no sooner than I got in. This is crazy. So, he resolved to take time to look around the room and explore. Vol.3 Chap.50 Exploration time ***** Vol.3 Chap.50 Exploration time ***** Now that he had been inside the cavern for quite a while, his eyes have grown accustomed to the darkness and, surprisingly, he could see well without the flashlight. Perhaps the rocks were somehow fluorescent because there was a dull glow on the rock face, something that he had not noticed the night before. He took his time to re-examine the wall paintings. He was amazed at the ingenuity of the Egyptian builders and their engineering skills in constructing the Sphinx. As he carefully studied the building process, he noticed stone arches were intentionally put in to create the room that he was standing in. So, there must be a strong relationship between the Sphinx and the upright stone structure. It was possible that the relationship could be more explicitly told if he could read all the hieroglyphics on the murals. After examining the murals, he walked around the room, looking especially at the ground for clues. The ground was a solid rock with a thin layer of sand on top. It almost seemed that the place was swept clean a long time ago. He could not find even a thread or a piece of shoelace. While crawling on all fours, as he approached the center stone slab, he noticed that the air was fresh. He would have expected that the air to be stale by now, but the air was fresh. That must be why he felt a draft of air from the stone while he was outside the Sphinx. He quickly went to his backpack and struck a match. Sure enough, the flame told him that there was air rushing out from underneath the stone stab. There must be something underneath the stone stab. He thought to himself. He fell to his knees and examined the stone slab carefully. It was smooth, although there were some rough spots here and there. From the mural, the size of the stone slab matches the stone structure, showing that this could be a door. But He found no keyholes, no latches, and no handles. He was on his knees, examining every inch of the stone slab. He found nothing. Brushing away the loose soil around the slab, only solid stone was underneath. Again, he found nothing. Undaunted, he used his hands to feel around the slab. Sure enough, there was a small crack around the stone slab separating the slab from the rest of the stone floor. He tried lifting the slab, but to no avail. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As he cleared the dirt from the stone slab, he discovered some curious carvings in the rock face. The markings appeared artificial. Quickly clearing off the remaining sand and soil, several curious indentations were etched on the slab. Four large squares were seen laid out on a line. Within each square, a series of small circles laid in a concentric pattern, from a slightly larger circle to the center of the square. In the first square from the left, there were six rays emanating from the center, each ray containing four small circles. On the second square, there were five rays emanating from the center. Each ray had three small circles carved into it. On the third square, there were no emanating rays, but there were four concentric circles, each with three circles on it. The last square had three concentric circles. The first one had two small circles, the second one had eight circles, and the third one had eight circles. For the next two hours, he combed through the slab and the surrounding area, brushing off loose soil to reveal the stone face underneath. He kept running into stone and nothing else. He dug around the pencil-thin crack that separated the slab from the rest of the stone face, but he found nothing. In desperation, he concluded that the stone slab could not be opened from the outside, it can openly be opened from inside with some kind of mechanical contraptions. He must be looking at the wrong place. The switch to open the stone must have had something to do with the stone carvings. Perhaps the stone carvings are parts of a combinational lock. He remembered that on the mural, a vizier seemed to have his hand on the stone structure at a place close to the carvings. In vain, he examined the carvings from all angles, trying to find if there were any buttons to push or if the circles move. What is crazy is not crazy anymore. He worked the carvings repeatedly, thinking of all kinds of ways that one can design a combinational lock with these carvings. After a couple more hours of frustrations, He was starving and tired, but he kept pushing the tiny circles, and fidgeting different parts of the carving. He tried logically pushing the circles, though he does not know what whether the push was effective at all. He pushed the circles softly in sequence. Nothing happened. He pushed the circles hard until his fingers hurt. Nothing happened. Towards the end, he was half pushing and half pounding on the carvings. Still, nothing happened. He was getting really frustrated and hungry. Perhaps he could work better when he was fresh. Laying down on top of the stone slab, he wanted to be awakened if for any reason the stone slab might move. He was not about to miss it. Vol.3 Chap.51 Carving puzzles ***** Vol.3 Chap.51 Carving puzzles ***** Frank did not mean to sleep that long, but when he awoke, he felt refreshed. He did not know how long he has slept. He figured he must have slept for a good four hours and was ready to attack what he hoped to be the last puzzle for the day, if he can call it a day, or was it already night outside? Before He started, he thought he would be calm and looked at the problem from an objective standpoint. He looked at all the circles in each carving and immediately figured out the number of possible combinations there were in total. There were twenty circles in the first carving, twenty in the second, eighteen in the third, and eighteen in the fourth. It did not take him long on the laptop to figure that there were only 129,800 combinations, pushing one circle into each square. The number was not astronomically large. If it takes 1 second to punch in a combination, then it only takes 36 hours to run through all the combinations. He sat down. If there were only 129,800 combinations, the combination would have been found a long time ago. He remembered that back in the college, a favorite trick of the firewall is to put a time lock on the logon so that when there are three wrong attempts, the system would lock up for a predefined amount of time to discourage hackers from continuously entering password attempts. Therefore, for this combinational lock, if there was a time delay for one minute after three poor attempts, then it would take 30 days to unlock the secrets. That was still not long enough. Perhaps there was a 60 minutes delay between attempts; then it would take five years. What if one had to push more than one circle in each carving, then that would take a much longer time period? That would be more reasonable. He decided he had to be very careful and select his choices carefully since he did not have years, at most days if even that many, to unlock the secrets. He was no stranger to encoding and decoding techniques since he had a government contract dealing specifically in decryption before. But this was a very different decryption problem because it was pictorial. He did not know about the rules of the game. Was this a code or a secret message? Was this a key or a carving and nothing more? He tried to touch the carvings, nothing happened. There must be a message somewhere hidden in these four squares. Gradually, he found that all his computer training was now useless. He was convinced that these were not idle carvings. If not, then what could these carvings mean? He thought of all the possibilities and wrote them down on his laptop: Insignia of the Pharaoh, ancient hieroglyphics, royal seal, Egyptian writing, and ancient civilization writing¡­ As he pondered on those choices, he eliminated them one by one. Sometimes he would compare the carvings with the murals and was convinced that the carvings were sufficiently different enough from Egyptian culture to be of Egyptian origin. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. If the carvings were not of Egyptian writing, then who put them there? And what was the purpose of these indentations? Could they be there before the Egyptian times? Suddenly, he remembered the mural at the end of the room. He jumped up and went to the end of the room and almost tripped on the stone slab. Sure enough, the same carvings were on the upright structure. The only difference was that on the mural, the stone structure was upright while the stone slab was now flat on the ground at present. He tried to read the carvings between the mural and what was on the stone stab, but could not deduce any significant differences. One thing was clear, he thought. The stone slab on the mural was upright with a ghostly figure next to it. Now the stone slab was flat on the ground, but he had dreamed the same ghostly figure with the same clothing holding the same shepherd crook. So perhaps this ghostly figure was trapped inside this stone vault and needed to get out. If so, the lock combination must have something to do with the carvings on the slab. As he was just about to go back to the stone slab, his eyes caught the hieroglyphics of the poem again. There are four lines to the poem as well. Maybe this was a strange coincidence, but perhaps the hieroglyphics could shed some light on the carvings. From his limited knowledge, the first line has something to do with the universe, the second line has something to do with the stars, the third line has something to do with the sun, and the last line has something to do with the living things. Perhaps this was a visit to Pharaoh by some divine deity. Then the universe would be the expanse of the Egyptian empire, the stars would be the various continents, cities or tribes. Maybe the sun was Pharaoh and the living things were the people and slaves. This could be a possible explanation of the four lines of poetry. How were these four lines applied to the carvings on the stone slab? Perhaps each circle represents a unit, a dynasty, or a city? Or maybe each circle represents direction from the center of the Egyptian empire? Somehow, this interpretation did not seem to fit. Maybe¡­ He was thinking hard since he was never one to turn down a tough challenge. Maybe the universe was not the Egyptian empire. Surely there were other tribes and civilizations existing at that time. So, if the universe was the whole civilized earth, then Egypt would be one circle in the known universe. But who would be at the center of the universe? Or, more appropriately, where would be the center of the known universe? Then who or what were the stars? Perhaps the stars were the wealthy cities and the sun would be the prominent men on earth at that time. That may be another possible explanation for these curious carvings. He was getting nowhere. He was also getting tired and hungry. His provisions were fast running out. He thought he had barely enough provisions for one more day. He hoped he could figure out the puzzle by then. If not, he was content to die here in the cavern and to spend his remaining moments here in his sarcophagus. At least, he would not be bored, but intensely trying to unlock the mystery of the combinational lock till his last breath. But somehow, he felt he has been called for more than just a personal discovery of the secrets of the Sphinx. He did not want to die without knowing the deeper secrets of the Sphinx. He took half of the remaining food in his backpack before he fell asleep. He slept soundly. When he awoke, he felt refreshed and was ready to tackle the problem again. He did not know whether it was day or night outside the Sphinx and he did not really care. He did not even bother to look at his watch. Time had no meaning here anymore. The outside world would never be his concern anymore. There was only one thing on his mind: solve the mystery of the four carvings or make this his sarcophagus. He was convinced that these four carvings contained the key to opening the gateway of the stone structure. What that gateway would be and where the gateway could lead to, he did not know. Vol.3 Chap.52 First three puzzles ***** Vol.3 Chap.52 First three puzzles ***** Frank thought considerably over the plausible options for interpreting those carvings. Sometimes, he would walk over to the murals and study the murals. At other times, he would carefully run his fingers over the carvings for clues. All the options of interpreting the stone carving as symbols of the Egyptian empire or civilized empires of the known world at that time just did not seem to fit. At long last, He decided he must take a different perspective, a fresh perspective. What if this ghostly figure was not of this earth? What if the entire event was an encounter with an extraterrestrial being? This new perspective seemed promising. I must have the right perspective. He said to himself. If a visitor from a superior civilization in outer space capable of space travel came, then the earth might be just one of many planets and stars to call on, just one of many intelligent races on many planets in this universe to visit. Perhaps the space visitor came to earth in search of an intelligent race. Now how would a space farer identify this planet earth and its intelligent race apart from the other races on other planets? Following this line of reasoning, he figured that the carving must represent an address of this planet earth. That seemed a logical deduction so far. But what was the key to the four carvings? And what was the identification of each carving? Taking his laptop out, he quickly called up his encyclopedia and refreshed himself regarding the solar system and the planets of the solar system, then he took time to be familiar with the Milky Way Galaxy. He was fascinated by what was known about this universe and wished once again that he could have studied more astronomy in his college days. Well, it was not too late yet. There was an accurate picture of the Milky Way in expanded view stored in his laptop. Then there was another picture showing the position of the Milky Way in the known universe. Putting his laptop down on the floor, he got up to stretch and to pace around the stone slab and walk off his frustrations. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. When he was on the opposite side of the stone slab, he turned to look back at the picture of the Milky Way shown on the computer screen. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. The picture on his computer screen looked exactly like the first stone carving. On his computer screen, there are rays like giant curved arms radiating from the center of the universe. On the stone carving there were an exact number of rays emanating out from the center as well. He ran back to his laptop and rotated his screen so that the arms in the picture coincide with the rays in the carving. Carefully, He located where the Milky Way is in the picture. As he looked at the stone carving, sure enough, there was a small circle at the same location. Then he remembered the poem on the mural. ¡­great universe¡­ ¡°Yes!¡± He shouted. He danced around for joy. OK, that was good. He told himself. For an extraterrestrial being to identify the exact location of this planet, one first identified which arm or direction the Galaxy was located. Then the second carving must identify the location of this planet within the Milky Way.¡± He quickly called up the expanded picture of the Milky Way. This time, the picture was like the carvings, with star clusters organized in arms radiating from the center of the Milky Way. Carefully, He rotated the picture on his computer screen until the expanded view of the Milky Way matched the rays in the second stone carving. Again, as expected, he found that where the Solar System lies in the Milky Way, there was a corresponding small circle in the stone carving. ¡­great universe¡­ ¡­countless stars¡­ This was good. Two down and two to go. The next carving was a set of concentric circles instead of rays coming from the center. This was too easy. The concentric circles must show the paths of the different planets. Besides, according to the poem, the next item was the sun. There were 11 planets, and the earth was the fourth planet from the sun. He looked at the stone carving again. There were only 3 concentric circles, not 11. But he counted the number of small circles and there were exactly 11 small circles. Since the earth was the fourth from the sun, and there were three small circles on the inner circle and there were three more small circles on the next concentric circle. The earth must be one of those small circles on the second ring. Well, that is not too bad; there are only three possible combinations. He told himself loudly. He was happy about the deduction of the first three carvings, although there was still one more puzzle to solve. Vol.3 Chap.53 The last puzzle ***** Vol.3 Chap.53 The last puzzle ***** To identify the planet earth, all you needed were the first three carvings: the location of the Milky Way galaxy in the known universe, the location of the Sun in the Milky Way galaxy, and the location of the planet earth in the solar system. Now, what about the fourth carving? What was the meaning of the fourth carving? He looked and looked again at the fourth carving. It was like the third carving in that it had three concentric rings with many more small circles on each ring. ¡­great universe¡­ ¡­countless stars¡­ ¡­bright sun¡­ ¡­living creatures¡­ The fourth carving must relate to living creatures. That meant the known civilization. His immediate reaction was that the fourth carving must therefore identify where the Sphinx was in order for the address to be complete. But he does not know what system was being used in identifying the location on earth with these concentric rings. He thought of latitudes and longitudes. But the carving showed concentric rings, not a grid. Besides, what would these circles refer to? If each circle referred to a developed civilization, then they should be concentrated near the Mediterranean in one spot, not spread out over the entire space. If the center of the world was the Egyptian Empire, then the center of the civilization must be Cairo. The Sphinx was not that far from Cairo. He called up the known Egyptian Empire and cities at that time. But there seemed to have no correlation between the location of the circles and the world map for that time. He was getting hungry, and he gobbled down the remaining rations he had. Bolstered by the success so far, he felt confident that he could solve the last puzzle. After the snack, he took a little nap just to refresh himself. After all, he had slept little the last few days. After an hour, he woke up from a peaceful nap. He immediately walked over to the fourth carving and studied it carefully. This time, he noticed that in contrast to the first two stone carvings, the small circles here are evenly spaced around the ring. After dwelling on this point for a while, he decided that the last carving could not be a location type identification. The first three carvings gave ample clues to the location of this planet. To an extraterrestrial, the exact location should not be of that much concern. If so, what did this last carving signify? This is tough, he said to himself. Pacing back and forth, he recited the poem to himself repeatedly. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡­great universe¡­ ¡­countless stars¡­ ¡­bright sun¡­ ¡­living creatures¡­ The last carving must relate to the living creatures on this planet. ¡­living creatures¡­ But what aspect of living creatures was it referring to? ¡­living creatures¡­ And how do these concentric rings describe the living creatures? ¡­living creatures¡­ He thought that he himself was a living creature. He approached the mural and studied the mural. Surrounding the ghostly figure were people, Egyptians. Then he noticed that there were animals in the background. Then he saw that there were trees as well. The living creatures could represent living things. What was the bond of all the living things? He grabbed his laptop and consulted the encyclopedia again. This time, he called up a lecture on general biology. He was astounded when the introductory paragraph mentioned that all life forms on earth were carbon based. Of course, He said to himself. To an extraterrestrial being, the life forms on earth were carbon based. Hence, the last circle must somehow show something about carbon. He forgot all about his chemistry. Calling up the periodic table, he learned that there was carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14. The stable configuration was carbon-12. A carbon-12 atom had 6 electrons. The atomic structure of carbon-12 was two electrons on the innermost ring and 4 electrons on the next ring. Hence, two carbon atoms can combine to form a stable molecule. Armed with this newly found knowledge, He visited the stone slab. He got very excited when he saw that the innermost ring of the fourth carving had only two small circles. Then the next innermost ring had eight circles. This is it! He congratulated himself. The last carving must be a sign that life on the planet was carbon based. He was so happy that he danced around the stone slab. He was pecking out an old nursery chime he always sang during happy times when he was young. To dream the impossible dream! ¡­ To reach the unreachable star. Frank heard himself singing the lyrics by Joe Darion. Suddenly, he stopped. Now what? He may have understood the fourth carving, but he was no closer to getting the stone slab to move or to open. Job is not done yet, Frank. Get back to work. He ordered himself. He was getting hungry, but except for a small bottle of water, his provisions were all gone. I hope this water will last. He took a sip and then returned to the slab. He sat down next to the stone slab and looked at all his information. The first carving marks the location of the Milky Way in the universe. Only one circle was needed and he knew which circle. The second carving marked the location of the solar system within the Milky Way. Again, only one circle was needed, and he knew exactly which circle was the correct one. The third circle marked the location of the earth, but he did not know which circle. He knew it was not in the innermost circle because there were only two tiny circles on that innermost circle, but there were four tiny circles in the next concentric circle. The earth could be any of those. The last carving showed carbon-12, meaning he must push four of the tiny circles together to indicate the four electrons of carbon-12 on the second concentric circle. But which four? A quick calculation shows that he had a few hundred combinations, mostly because he did not know which four circles to push in the last square. Undaunted, he started pushing the circles from left to right. First square, he knew which circle. Second square, he knew which circle as well. Third square, one of the four circles. Logically, he started from the top one and worked his way down. Now the last square, he had to push four our of eight circles. Sitting down and strategizing, he arrived at a logical protocol to push the circles. It took about two hours to cycle through all the combinations. His fingers hurt and he was tired, but the stone slab remained close. Frustration turned to disappointment. So close, yet so far. Vol.3 Chap.54 The key ***** Vol.3 Chap.54 The key ***** After five minutes of rest, his spirit was slightly refreshed. As He was about to try punching in the circles again, another idea suddenly came into focus. What if all the circles must be pushed simultaneously? He looked at the circles; the carvings were too far apart for his hands. A key must be constructed with the right protrusions at the proper location for this to work. He looked around his backpack and decided that he could carve up his water bottle to make the key. Taking out his pocketknife, he quickly went to work. First, he fashioned a key for the first two carvings and would use his fingers for the other two carvings. When the makeshift plastic key was made, he gently placed them on top of the carvings. After satisfying himself that the protrusions were on the proper locations, he was ready. Gently, he placed the plastic key on top of the two carvings, holding the plastic with his mouth. Then he positioned his finger on the other carvings. It was an awkward position, and He practiced a few times pretending to push the circles. Then he told himself that on the count of three, he would push the circles. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Three, two, one, push.¡± Nothing happened. He adjusted the position of his key and tried again. ¡°Three, two, one, push.¡± Nothing happened. He adjusted the position of his key and tried again. ¡°Three, two, one, push.¡± Nothing happened. He was getting very frustrated. He paused and reviewed the entire line of reasoning. The reasoning was correct. He examined the key, and it seemed that one of the protrusions was a little bent requiring some straightening. He made a quick repair. He was reasonably confident about the first two squares, but was a little uncertain about the answer to the last two squares. Undaunted, he tried again. He tried pushing the four buttons on the top of the square. Then he tried pushing the four buttons on the bottom of the square. Frustrated. He sat down to rest. He must be methodical and logical and tried every combination. It took quite a few trials. He could not remember what the last combination was. But suddenly, the plastic gave way and the tiny circles also gave way. He looked at his key, and he looked at the carvings. Then he thought he heard a tiny hissing sound. Slowly, he saw the crack at the edge of the stone slab got wider. The stone slab was moving. He jumped aside. He rubbed his eyes. No, this was not a trick. He put his hand on the crack and felt a rush of fresh air coming from beneath. Steadily, the stone slab rose from the ground on one side. The other side must be hinged and fastened to the ground. It took the slab a good five minutes to become erect. At that posture, the stone slab looked exactly like the stone structure depicted in the mural on the wall. Vol.3 Chap.55 A surprise welcome ***** Vol.3 Chap.55 A surprise welcome ***** As soon as the stone slab stopped moving, he shined the flashlight into the hole and discovered that there were stairs leading down. The passageway was very narrow, barely enough for one person to go down. He gathered all his stuff together and put them in his backpack. He carefully scanned over the whole cavern to make sure that he did not leave any artifacts behind. Of course, he took the plastic key with him also, though he did not know why. He just did not want to leave anything behind. It was difficult to squeeze himself down the narrow passageway. It took some maneuvering and adjusting. He finally held his backpack with one hand and the flashlight with the other so that he could lowered himself down the stairs. He did not know where the stairs would take him. It really did not matter. Somehow, he knew that this was what he was supposed to do. So, one step at a time, he descended the stairs. As soon as his head cleared the ground level, the stone slab closed on its own silently and quickly. Shining the light around the edge, he saw no lever or buttons or opening mechanism. He was trapped again. He pushed, but knew that was in vain. If he could not lift the stone slab topside, there was no way he was going to raise the stone slab from underneath. The only way was down. With that thought, he picked up his pace and started his descent again, not knowing how far he had to go and what was waiting for him below. He did not have to go far. After about three flights of stairs, the stairs ended in a small room. The room was empty with no windows and no doors. The only way into the room was through this set of stairs. The only way out of the room was also through the same set of stairs. The other end of the stairs was a dead end. He knew; he came from there. Did he walk into a trap? Was this his prison? The mural clearly depicts creatures coming out of the stone. But the stairs brought him to a dead end. Instinctively, he fumbled for a light switch but found none. But the walls were soft to the touch. He shone the light on the walls. It was smooth. He directed his flashlight all around the room, but found no distinctive features anywhere. The ceiling, the floor, the four walls all seemed to be made of the same material. The cube, as he called it, was perfect in every dimension. He tried to examine the edge where the walls joined, but there was no visible seam. As he ran his finger down the edge, he sensed the same soft touch. It almost seemed as if the whole cube was cut out from an enormous block of some solid material. But he knew of no technology that could make such sharp angles so flawlessly. What was surprising was that the wall was soft to the touch. When he was fumbling for the light switch, the wall appeared to give a little; as if the surface was padded by a soft material. When he removed his hand, there was a faint impression of his hand left on the wall. But his imprint did not last long. Even as he stared at his imprint, the impression smeared. Soon the impression disappeared, and the wall became flat and featureless as before. His flashlight flickered, and the light became very dim. He knew he had little time left to explore the room. His battery was running dangerously low. He switched the flashlight off so that he could extend the battery life as much as possible. He sat down on the floor and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. That was wishful thinking, actually. He knew he was in a sealed room with no windows and no artificial lighting. Instinctively, he squinted his eyes. Much to his surprise, he seemed to make out the outline of the room. Without thinking, he held out his hand and saw his fingers. He looked at his left hand. Yes, he could see his five fingers. He looked at his right hand; and he could see his five fingers as well. Shocked, he looked up and saw the room clearly without his flashlight. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He walked around the room with both hands on the wall, hoping that the sense of touch would reveal what the sense of sight could not. Methodically, he searched the room with his hands. At times, he crawled on all fours to search the floor. He could not really search the ceiling, though he tried. He would jump up, trying in vain to touch the ceiling. After several unsuccessful attempts, he abandoned the idea. His search ended in vain. Not having anything else to do, he thought he would try shouting. ¡°Hello!¡± He shouted on top of his lungs. ¡°Hello!¡± He repeated. There were no echoes. The sound appeared to be absorbed by the wall. He went to the stairs and shouted up the stairs. But again, no echoes returned. He put his ear next to the wall and listened intently. Nothing. He tried to be as quiet as possible and even held his breath while listening. Nothing. There was no sound coming in or going out. In desperation, he stuck out his tongue. Of course, he tasted no sensation as well. He sensed nothing with all five senses. He turned around again. The opening through the stairs that he walked through into the room had disappeared. There was no more opening there, rather, where the opening was, now it was just a plain wall. He drew a deep breath. The air was sterile. But then he realized there was air. The air must come from somewhere. Undaunted, he searched high and low for the source of air, but found no outlets for the air, yet the air never got stale. Strange. He drew another deep breath and froze in his tracks. He smelled the sweetness of fresh fruits. Instinctively, he swung around and looked in the direction where his nose led him. Right in front of him on the wall, there was a ledge protruding out from the wall. He knew it was a smooth wall just a moment ago. Now there was a small ledge holding a basket of fresh fruits and a jar of fresh goat''s milk. A simple cup sat next to the jar. At the back of the fruit basket was a stone tablet inscribed with the following writing: ¡°Welcome, Dr. Frank Abdulcizi. Please enjoy the refreshment.¡± Well, Frank was dumbfounded. Though he was apprehensive, his stomach was also growling. Since he had exhausted all his food rations, this provision was a welcomed sight. Was this his prison, and this was to be his last meal? It did not matter whether or not the food was edible. It did not matter whether or not the fruits were poisoned. There was no reason to worry about this or to analyze how the food got here. He was hungry, and he was going to eat what was provided. The fruit basket was filled with all kinds of local fruits: dates, olives, pomegranates, etc. He loved the dates, and he soon finished all the dates. Next, he tore open a pomegranate and began to suck on the juicy meat. The meat was bright red and sweet. It almost seemed as if the fruit was just harvested from the tree a few minutes ago. Likewise, the goat''s milk was fresh and warm. He promptly finished half a jug of milk. Now that his hunger had subsided, he had a little time to consider the situation. The sudden appearance of the food was indeed a wonder. A straight wall being deformed to make a ledge was another engineering wonder. The inscription on the stone tablet with his name etched in stone was a huge mystery. But the most mysterious question was: Who was behind all this? He immediately ruled out any human maneuvering. No one knew he was here. It appeared that no one had cracked the puzzle of the rock cap above him. Yet the inscription was very specific, since it bore his name. The material in the room was like nothing he knew before. In no time at all, he deduced that this must be an encounter with someone or something other than his fellow human beings. But so far, his host was well hidden and had not been revealed to him. There was nothing to do but to wait. He did not have long to wait. It happened right in front of his eyes. It happened so rapidly that he did not trust his own eyes. First, there was a hairline crack on the wall. Then the crack widened to form a door. Then the details of the door, such as hinges and doorknobs, were formed. Naturally, he went up to the door to examine this new formation on the wall. He was not sure if it was really a working door or if it was a model of a door. Then he heard it loud and clear. There was a knock on the door. He knew the answer must be on the other side. The wait was over. Without hesitation, he opened the door.