"Leonard Speaking"
'Leonard Thinking'
The Phoenix Foundation, Los Angeles
MacGyver and his team were preparing their gear. Chaldea Expo was about to begin tomorrow, so they needed all the equipment to be packed and ready within two hours. As Riley checked her hacker deck, she noticed Jack look at his pistol, his face a mask of hesitation and worry. Puzzled, she asked, "Why the long face?"
MacGyver turned slightly, focusing on the conversation while packing his own gear. Jack sighed and said, "We are not going against a terrorist squad shooting at us this time. Most people we will encounter will be innocents. I don't want to hurt them, but without this gun, I will feel naked."
MacGyver, strapping a thin, seamless body armor under his shirt asked, "Doesn't this mission seem suspicious? While I am not questioning the intel, yet something doesn't feel quite right?"
Riley offered, "Maybe it's ESP. Many people get off planes due to this, narrowly escaping a disaster."
Jack joked, "Thank you for your Final Destination reference, but we should not linger. The plane is waiting for us."
The group carried their gear to the government-issued plane, not knowing that the mission would change their lives forever.
Apartment 4B, Pasadena
Sheldon watched as Amy packed his luggage. He asked, "Did you pack my bow ties?"
Amy answered, "Yes, but please wear a regular one."
Sheldon asked again, "My purple suit?"
Amy looked annoyed, "You look horrible in that suit."
Sheldon was quiet for a second before he shot back, "I look good in everything."
Amy snorted, trying to suppress her amusement, before answering, "I packed your deep blue one. Chaldea Expo will have scientists and diplomats from around the world. You don't want to look like Willy Wonka in front of Stephen Hawking, do you?"
Sheldon looked horrified at the thought, "No, that would be a nightmare."
Amy smiled victoriously before saying, "Then allow me to pack in peace. Why don't you organize your papers and projects. Dr. Kip Thorne will also be there. He might have some insights into super asymmetry."
Sheldon had a look of realization before he praised Amy, "That is a fantastic idea. I will organize the materials now."
As the house became silent, Amy finished her packing before she walked into the spare bedroom in the apartment. With a gentle knock, Amy walked in to find Sheldon copying materials in a hard drive. The walls were filled with dry-erase sheets, on which dense, meticulous calculations were etched, layer by layer, over the years by Sheldon. However, one wall was covered in a pin-up board, with every major piece of news about Chaldea pinned and marked. Amy sighed when she saw the board. Sheldon had started the board after Leonard left Pasadena for good, as if he wanted to maintain Leonard's presence in the house.
Sheldon unplugged the hard drives before staring at them. Amy walked forward and hugged Sheldon from the side. A few years ago, such physical contact would have unsettled him, but now, he felt comforted.
In a voice cracked by emotion, Sheldon said, "For eight years, this was Leonard's room. Even when he was gone, I didn't change anything for a while, hoping that, perhaps, some day, he would come back."
Amy rubbed small circles on his back, as she said, "If it wasn't for Leonard, Howard and Raj, I would never have met you. Yet, I gave you the suggestion that drove him away. Do you resent me for it?"
Sheldon shook his head, "Even if you didn't give me any suggestions, it would only be a matter of time before I pushed him too far. In a way, I sabotaged his life as well. He could have never have forgiven me. I know I wouldn't have. But he did."
Amy smiled slightly, "If he didn't consider you his friend, would he have attended our wedding? Maybe it's time to let go of the past. Leonard has started to look forward towards the future, maybe we should too."
Sheldon wiped tears that he didn't even realize he had shed. The couple completed their preparations and locked the door. Leonard had invited his entire Pasadena group, even Penny, who couldn't understand a lick of advanced science, to his company's Expo. And Sheldon would not miss it for anything.
Atlantic City Convention Center, New Jersey
The Center was decorated like a futuristic city, as various members of the Chaldea Foundation arranged individual booths, with a team of interior decorators handling the arrangements. Marshall Erikson accompanied his leader Mike Ross through the venue, his eyes taking in the bustle as scientists arranged their booths for the Expo.
He saw that many of these scientists, identified by their swollen, exhausted eyes, were being accompanied by one of his colleagues. Puzzled, he turned to Mike, "Why are Chaldea Legal personnel accompanying the scientists?"
Mike chuckled as he answered, "Seems odd, doesn't it? It was Leonard's idea. He said that a lot of people will come to these booths, and with these people, offers will come as well. Since Chaldea doesn't restrict its scientists from selling their technology, any of those people could bid and buy the developed technology patent. To prevent any exploitation, each scientist is accompanied by a personal lawyer, who will help vet the offers and contracts."
Marshall was excited to hear that, before asking, "Am I going to accompany one of the scientists as well?"
Mike nodded, "Certainly. Didn't you tell me that you wanted to save the environment as a lawyer?"
Seeing Marshall nod, Mike's face curled into a smile, "You are in luck. I recommended you to accompany Dr. Arun Rao. He holds a high rank in Chaldea, and has developed many machines responsible for cleaning and purifying the Earth. His robots were the ones that are currently cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch."
Hearing this, Marshall excitedly followed Mike to Dr. Rao's booth. He realized that this event would remain memorable for many years.
Expo Inauguration
The crowd was waiting as the Chaldea Expo was about to begin. All the people in the Center were gathered in front of a stage. The media had sensed that something big was about to be announced. They realized that something big was going to be announced soon.
The lights dimmed as the stage lit up with shimmering, ethereal light. Leonard emerged onto the stage from its side, calmly walking towards the center of the stage, a microphone in his hand.
Leonard began, "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is truly a fine evening when people from all walks of life—scientists, teachers, and leaders from around the world—can come together. For this evening, the world has its eyes on this stage. And I thank you all for making this event possible."
Leonard bowed slightly, as the room went completely quiet. Glancing around the hall, Leonard continued, "This is not a product launch, nor a PR event. This Expo is a celebration. A celebration of all that Chaldea stands for. When I first had the idea to unite the scientific community of the world, all I wanted was to give some people opportunities. People down on their luck, with no one to support them, people who have the ability to innovate, the courage to dream, and the will to persevere. All I wanted was to protect people like them. And I have never regretted it."
Leonard stopped speaking, letting his words hang in the air. A wave of anticipation rushed through every person. A smile emerged on Leonard's face before he said, "Today, on this stage, I wish to tell everyone what my decision to build this organization has brought me. It has brought me hope, the hope for a better future, a future in which problems like scarcity, pollution, or hunger will end. And it has brought you something as well."
Leonard paused, as every ear was tuned to his voice, every gaze pointed at him, as if asking for a secret. Leonard took a deep breath before announcing with a wide smile, "Today, I have the privilege of announcing that Chaldea has conquered cancer."
The hall was silent for a moment, before it erupted in a cacophony of gasps, yells, discussions and joyful laughter. For the moment, Leonard became irrelevant compared to what he had announced. The crowd became embroiled in discussions, with journalists frantically writing in their notepads, leaders discussing the implications in hushed voices, and occasional cries of relief as everyone processed the news. Yet Leonard did not interrupt. He let the information sink in before saying, "Chaldea presents to you, Panacea-01, the one medicine that can cure any kind of cancer at any stage. To further explain this miracle, let me call upon Dr. Sofia Ross née Vasquez. Let us welcome her with applause."
Leonard started clapping as everyone in the crowd followed suit. Under that thunderous applause, Sofia took to the stage.
Among the guests
Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, once a renowned child psychologist and author, had seen better days. Unfortunately, she was no longer the woman she had once been. Since Leonard's court case, much of Beverly's behavior had come under scrutiny, causing her to lose book contracts and grants. Now, her only source of income was her university position.
Luckily, her tenure did get her a seat at the Chaldea Expo and brought her face-to-face with her estranged son. There was a time when she considered Leonard a disappointment, yet now, watching him hold the gaze of the world, explain his vision and tell about Chaldea's major scientific breakthrough made her look at him differently. The last time, Leonard was a son who took his mother to court. At that time, she saw him as the boy who constantly craved her affection.
Today, in the packed venue, Beverly saw Leonard for what he truly was, a visionary, a pioneer, and a scientist. She had ignored him for decades, but now, no one in the world would ever ignore him. At her side, her ex-husband sat, watching his son walk away from the stage amid the cheers of the crowd.
Alfred dabbed his eyes before turning to her, "Aren't you going to meet him?"
Beverly looked in the direction Leonard had gone, before shaking her head, "No, he doesn't need me tonight, or any time."
Alfred understood her, before he commented, "Well, I am proud of him."
Beverly spoke smoothly, "Pride is a useless emotion made by simple hormonal reactions in the brain…"
Alfred motioned her to continue, as she said, "...but I am proud of him as well."
Robotics Sector, Chaldea Expo
Peter Weyland was not a man who admitted his faults. And he was very much the man who held long grudges. As such, when he heard about the Chaldea Expo and how some of the most influential people in the world were going, he decided to go as well.
In less than an hour, Chaldea amazed and annoyed him to his very core. And it all began when Leonard Hofstadter, that brute who choked him, announced the cure for cancer. Although Peter would never admit he initiated the attack, Leonard's response had marked him as an enemy. Watching the brute on the stage, announcing the cure for cancer as if it were a cup of tea made Weyland furious.
Weyland sought out the Robotics sector to clear his head. He took a look at the various robots, some innovative, some niche. Before long, Weyland was in front of a booth that had an android on display. The scientist, a bug-eyed young man with thick glasses, beamed as he presented his android, "Good evening sir, are you interested in my project?"
However, contrary to the bug-eyed scientist's excitement, Weyland sneered, "Does this piece of junk even deserve to be called a project?"
The scientist's eyes dimmed, as he reacted, "Sir, this is a work in progress right now. While I can agree that it is not the best, it has potential…"
Weyland snorted, before bursting into condescending laughter, "Potential? What is the use of potential when you cannot develop it? Would anyone invest in a piece of junk that is inferior to similar products in the market? And even if it has potential, would someone like you even develop it well? Don't flatter yourself kid."
As Weyland mocked the scientist, a few others from the nearby booths came to watch the commotion. Seeing Weyland humiliating the young man, one of the scientists came towards the android, examining it with scrutiny. He asked, "How are you powering this thing? I don't see any battery pack."
The young man opened up a panel on the abdomen, to reveal a white, pulsating, almost organic thing. The man explained, "It is a pseudo-digestive system. The system can use food or nutrient gel and digest it to generate energy. The efficiency is okay, and it can keep the droid active for three hours on a meal, but there is no energy storage mechanism. I can't just store excess energy as glycogen after all."
Weyland was rendered speechless. His current line of David androids still used plugs and batteries. Even if the android was clunky and lacked any energy storage medium, the fact that it could still work for three hours was nothing short of a miracle.
The other scientist was amazed. He said, "That is amazing, but it is too heavy. Why not use chitin-printed bones? It is strong, yet light. Come to my booth later on."
Another scientist chimed in, "I have an artificial heart made to be inert and efficient. If you use it for circulation, we can make one strong enough to bring the energy to the entire body."
Many other scientists from nearby booths approached the scientist, sharing ideas and exchanging contact information. Weyland stood in the distance, watching the commotion seriously. Maybe the robot was weak and crude, but a collaborative environment like this would ensure that the android developed into something formidable. He saw the name on the board, Eldon Tyrell, a name he committed to memory.
As he walked away, the excited talking behind him made him wonder, 'Was this why Hofstadter called my legacy a toy? '
It was going to be a long and sleepless night for Peter Weyland, as he left the convention center and sat in his car, unconsciously giving his chauffeur directions, his mind still on the way scientists joined together at the Expo.
Two Hours After the Inauguration
For the next two hours, Leonard was the life of the party. He joked with young entrepreneurs, clinked glasses with world leaders, shared insights with fellow scientists and discussed business with behemoths of the business world.
Taking a sip of his prosecco, Leonard looked at Elon Musk, who was going on about his graphene solid state batteries. Elon calmed down from his unending praise, before getting to the core of his talk, "Leonard, I admire you a lot. You have something most people at this event lack. Can you see my vision, in which cars will no longer spew poison into the air and road accidents become a thing of the past…"
Leonard interrupted him at that point, "I can see the vision, Elon, but can you see the cracks?"
Elon was taken aback for a second. Leonard chuckled, before explaining, "I agree that with your cars and my batteries, we can move away from oil, and while your self-driving environment is promising, both of these goals can never be fulfilled without government supporting the infrastructure. When oil companies call for the ban of such cars by lobbying, we need people to understand this vision, and be in a position to make decisions on it. But is the government as sympathetic to our vision?"
Musk was silent. Leonard consoled, "You should already be familiar with this. The government and countries in general, work on profit and loss. Morality is the last thing we have to worry about. But don't worry, I have you covered…"
Leonard chuckled before calling over a man from nearby. Leonard introduced, "Elon, this is my diplomat, Emil Okoye. He has negotiated with world leaders and turned many countries in favor of adopting Chaldea's solutions to world problems. How do you think UN allowed us to work on the garbage patch? We can cooperate on the battery technology, while Emil will help you pave the way for the necessary infrastructure."
Leonard smiled as Emil took Musk away, discussing the upcoming elections and the possibility of Donald Trump becoming the next President. As Leonard looked around the venue, he got a message. Leonard checked his phone to find a message from Elliot, 'There are rats here, should we send the cat in?'
Leonard grinned, before answering back, 'Lure the rats to the corner. The Tiger will be waiting for them.'
Cyber Security Room, Chaldea Expo
Elliot looked at the message with amusement. For a while, he had been cooped up in the room with Lisbeth, looking around for network intrusions. And finally, it happened. As soon as Riley Davis connected her rig to the networks, she had practically offered herself up on a chopping block. Yet, looking at the confident approach of this team, Elliot couldn't help but want to shatter that arrogance. He quickly dialled Giselle. After a few rings, Giselle picked up the phone, "Elliot, is it important right now? I am quite busy you know."
Elliot grinned, before he said, "There are some rats in the venue. Leonard has told me to lure them to a corner, but why not play with them for a while..."
Giselle snorted, and asked, "What do you have in mind?"
Elliot whispered, "So, the plan is..."
With Team MacGyver
Angus MacGyver walked among the crowds, wearing a white dress shirt and a black bow tie. Through an earpiece, he heard Riley's voice, "I have already taken control of the cameras at the venue, but the place is crawling with guards. And while the backstage computers contain presentations, there is nothing else there."
MacGyver answered softly, "What about the guards' movements? Any areas of interest?"
Riley looked through the camera feed, before answering, "Several. The private rooms of several scientists and diplomats are guarded, but Chaldea rooms are guarded even more. For Hofstadter and his closest associates, there is an entire private floor, constantly under watch by guards and security cameras."
Suddenly, Riley's monitoring system showed activity. She caught the message and relayed it to MacGyver, "Mac, there has been some movement in the guards. Apparently, the scientists are taking a meal break, and the guards are being asked to keep the meal area secure. We have a window of about fifteen minutes, during which the guards will change their shifts. Make it count."
In the venue, MacGyver's eyes sharpened, as he observed everything around him. He asked Riley, "Do the rooms have electronic locks?"
Riley looked through her intel and replied, "They do, but every scientist has a master key card. Hofstadter had it made this way so that the scientists don't need to worry about their colleagues being locked out during a collaboration. But the key cards for the Chaldea exclusive floor are held by the Leonard's closest associates. You might have to steal one off a core Chaldea member."
Jack, who was silent till then, suddenly interrupted, "Whatever you do, do it fast. I don't want this mission to be any longer than it needs to be."
Riley ignored Jack's urging and searched through her feed for those associates. She quickly found some and whispered in her comm, "Go to the nature section. You can steal the card from Mike Ross, or Arun Rao. Try Mike. He is supposed to be much more closer to Leonard than Arun."
MacGyver knew what to do. He walked towards the Environment booths, removing his bow tie in the process, shedding his waiter appearance for that of a young engineer.
Mike was explaining something to Marshall when MacGyver approached the booth.
"Excuse me," MacGyver said.
Mike turned. He looked at the young man quizzically, "Can I help you?"
MacGyver smiled politely, "Actually, I was hoping you could."
He gestured toward one of Arun's machines, "I'm an engineer myself. I've seen environmental clean-up systems before, but I've never seen anything quite like this."
Marshall's eyes lit up, "Right? I mean, look at this thing!"
Mike smiled, before answering, "As you can see, I am not the lawyer with Dr. Rao. That honour belongs to Mr. Erikson here. I'll let you two get acquainted."
Behind his polite expression, his eyes swept across the booth. With a quick movement, he made a tripping motion, disguising it as an overexcited mistake. Suddenly, Mike tripped, and MacGyver used the tripping motion to hook the access card pinned to the inside of his jacket.
With an apologetic look, he helped Mike stand up, "I am so sorry. Are you okay?"
MacGyver looked him over, as if searching for any injury. Mike waved him off, "Don't worry. I can understand your excitement. No harm done."
Marshall immediately began explaining the machine with considerably more enthusiasm than technical accuracy.
MacGyver listened carefully for a few minutes, before making an excuse to leave the booth. He whispered in his earpiece, "I got the card. Approaching the floor now."
As MacGyver left, Mike smirked, before messaging Elliot, "The rat has the key."
With MacGyver
MacGyver followed Riley's instructions, avoiding the guards and the cameras. After a lot of maneuvering, he reached the Chaldea exclusive floor. He asked Riley, "So, which one belongs to Hofstadter?"
Riley answered, "Room 402. You only have ten minutes. Enter the room, find his laptop, and simply plug the worm I designed. I'll handle the rest."
MacGyver swiped the key card on Leonard's door and entered the room. His eyes quickly looked around for a laptop, before finding a bag on the table. As he approached the bag, ready to take out the laptop, he heard a voice, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
MacGyver turned towards the source of the sound, his eyes widened in panic as he saw Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, the leader of Chaldea, sitting on a couch, with a gun trained on him.
Leonard smiled, "I believe it's time we talked, Mr. MacGyver."
Conference Room, Atlantic City Convention Center
Leonard leaned back in his chair, his posture exuding confidence, as he looked at the team from the Phoenix Foundation. While Leonard cornered MacGyver, his security team apprehended the other two. While Riley didn't put up much resistance, Jack did give the men some trouble.
Leonard fiddled with a Swiss army knife, before he began, "I must say, it was really impressive how you planned and executed the mission. If I hadn't been aware of your presence, trapping you would have been problematic."
Jack snorted, before speaking in a cocky tone, "Well, we appreciate your admiration, but you still captured U.S. agents."
Leonard chuckled, "Did I? You should know this from your CIA days, Mr. Dalton, that once an agent is captured, your government does a risk assessment instead of launching a rescue mission. And I don't know whether you noticed it or not, this infiltration was an unprovoked attack on my organisation. So, the consequences I might face for capturing you are minuscule compared to what the U.S. will face."
Riley muttered, "How did they even pinpoint our location?"
Leonard, whose senses had been sharpened to an absurd degree, heard her musing and answered, "We didn't need to pinpoint anything. The second you connected to our network, my experts caught it. We knew exactly where you were."
MacGyver realised that they had been caught. Now, their fate depended on Leonard. He asked, "So, what now?"
Leonard said, "Now we will negotiate with your agency. Whether you walk out of here will depend on their attitude. Elliot, send the link to the CIA, the NSA, and the Phoenix Foundation as well. Let's talk."
Soon, the large screen in the conference room connected them to a conference call with the Director of the CIA, the Director of the NSA and MacGyver's direct superior, Patricia Thornton.
Leonard remained silent, as his team explained the situation and negotiated with the three directors. However, the three kept on shifting blame. The CIA blamed the NSA, the NSA blamed the Phoenix Foundation, and Thornton placed the blame on MacGyver himself.
Seeing the negotiations getting derailed, Leonard clapped his hand once, creating a sharp sound as everyone quietened. Leonard said, "It seems that none of you want to take responsibility. Very well, it seems Chaldea has earned the gratitude of the world, but to the U.S., we are nothing. In that case, please explain to the FDA why they will never have access to Panacea-01."
The Director of the NSA, Leland Fontaine, started, his tone serious, "Dr. Hofstadter, we understand that such actions breach the trust between your organisation and the U.S. government, but we don't want that to happen. You have developed the cure for cancer, and your organisation will continue to develop new technologies. I assure you, I had no hand in this, but I personally apologise to you for this incident."
The other organisations agreed with Fontaine, and apologised to Leonard.
Leonard looked at those hypocritical faces, before sighing. He said, "I will set these agents free. This is first and the last time something like this should happen. If you continue, my retaliation will be swift, and brutal."
The three directors looked unsure about that, but agreed to pull back all surveillance before hanging up the call. Leonard turned back to MacGyver, his expression darkening, "Now, you see how everyone was willing to turn on you to save themselves."
The agents remained quiet as Leonard asked his guards to remove the restraints on the three. The three moved towards the door, before Leonard stopped them, "Before you go, there are some things I should say."
The team turned back, as Leonard looked at each member, "Your team is quite good, and now that you have seen the real face of your government as well, I wish to offer you an invitation to Chaldea."
The team was shocked by the offer, before discussing amongst themselves. Finally, MacGyver answered, "We appreciate the offer, but we refuse. There is a lot of good that we can do with government support."
Leonard nodded before saying, "In that case, deliver these messages from Chaldea. Jack, tell the CIA, that we have copies of all their files. We know every agent they have. We know what assignment they are on, and what crimes they have committed in foreign nations. Should the CIA target us again, I will ensure none of these agents survive."
While Jack was horrified, Leonard continued, turning to Riley, "Riley Davis, inform the NSA that I have copied every CyberWMD they have created. Should the NSA bother me again, the U.S. will be on the receiving end of several nasty surprises."
Finally Leonard turned to MacGyver, "And finally, for the Phoenix Foundation: I know all about, your friends, your parents, and even your children. The next time we are targeted, my side will start eliminating people, keeping you for the last."
While the outraged Phoenix Team was led out, Mike asked Leonard with some worry, "Was it wise, threatening them like this?"
Leonard said seriously, "Those were promises, not threats. Besides, we only need to maintain this deterrence for a few years at most. Once my plan is implemented, we will never need to threaten anyone, ever again."
Leonard dismissed the guards until only the Inner Circle remained. He pulled out a file from his bag and placed it in the middle of the conference table. Mike stood up and took a look at the file. What stood out the most were the words written on the cover.
'Chaldea Project: Terra'
AN: And done. With this, the Third Arc is complete. After this chapter, the story will be on hiatus for two weeks, so the new chapter will be uploaded in the first week of October. Stay tuned for more.
AN2: I wish to thank all my patrons, both new and old, who have supported my writing till now. I have started working on a rewrite of my first story. I hope the story receives as much love as this story. See you all in two weeks.
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