“What’s the time?” Trey asked as he stepped out of his dark blue maglev race car wearing his same-colored racing suit.

  Leon and Zoe, standing next to the starting line, looked over at the timer in unison.

  “You shaved off a quarter of a second in that lap compared to the original car,” Zoe stated with raised eyebrows. “I don’t know, though. Did you really change something on that car, Leon?”

  “Yeah. That might just be me performing slightly better this time.” Trey added from the side.

  Leon nodded once in return. “True, that might be the case. But the modification I added to your car does help.”

  “What kind of modification?” Trey was genuinely curious. He drove both cars but didn’t feel a clear difference.

  “Hmm, a little software update,” Leon answered, recalling the past couple of days.

  In truth, he did a software update, but it was far from little. He got the idea from old man Howard to put the Vulcan AI into the maglev race car to facilitate and assist communication between the separate hover systems.

  It’s a tiny difference, only slightly faster than before due to the high processing power of the Vulcan AI itself, but when you go hundreds of kilometers an hour for tens of laps, the tiny fractions of a second added up will account for several seconds in the end.

  Several seconds at such a high speed could be the deciding factor in a race.

  This might help Trey to compensate for his lacking reaction speed compared to GenoTech’s Jade Kotova. Beating skill with superior technology. This was Leon’s forte.

  “You changed something in the software,” Trey tilted his head, concerned. “Is that legal, though. Don’t wanna get disqualified for the rule break.”

  “There’s nothing in the regulations that forbids it,” Leon countered. There were prohibitions regarding AI control, but only if they interfered with driver controls. AI communication between car systems, however, was fair game.

  “I checked it clearly, there are no issues.”

  “Well, if you say so. It’s only my season that is on the line if you’re wrong.” Trey shrugged. Leon laughed in return.

  “That’s funny, Trey. I’m never wrong. You know that.” He said, more confident than ever.

  “Anyway, just treat tomorrow’s race like any other. The results will speak for themselves.” Leon told Trey as he gathered his things.

  “You seem rather busy these days, Leon,” Trey mentioned as he noticed Leon beginning to leave.

  “I know. There is much to do but not enough time.”

  “Does that mean you’re not coming to watch the race tomorrow?”

  “As if,” Leon sneered at the thought of that. “What a wild thing to say. What happens when something happens to the car and I’m not here? Nah, man, I’ll be right there in the pit checking to see if everything’s alright.”

  “That’s reassuring.” Trey nodded in agreement. “By the way, the others will be coming to watch too.”

  “The others? You mean Tara and the other two?”

  Hearing his second question, Trey stopped in place for a second, raising an eyebrow at what he just heard.

  “Tara… and the others?”

  When Leon heard Trey emphasize Tara’s name, he realized he had made a mistake. However, he didn’t want to fill him in on his chance encounter with the auburn-haired girl at The Providence.

  So, he decided to take the easiest way out. Denial and feigning ignorance.

  “I gotta go,” Leon said as he turned on his heels.

  “Wait, don’t you want to explain yourself?” Trey yelled after him, but Leon only waved his hand.

  “Bye, Trey.”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Leaving the race track, he used the train to make his way over to Alpha Dynamics HQ, entering the lab where he slipped into a larger empty white room down the central aisle.

  It was filled with boxes, tens of boxes, some larger with smaller ones in between. All of them, parts and components he ordered for the Vulcan System.

  Several days later, he finally started on making the Vulcan System into reality, a stark improvement compared to his planless endeavors for two long weeks. The difference? He was working on it alone.

  After the prior team tapped out, Leon took it upon himself to push on, even if it meant more work for him when time was already tight.

  What also changed was his approach to the Vulcan System itself. He couldn’t change the hardware on the Alpha Dynamics products that were already circulating the market, which is why they adopted the strategy to improve the software.

  But now, where everything was left up to him, Leon changed course by doubling, even tripling, down on hardware instead.

  If he could not change the hardware directly, he would simply outsource the need for the hardware itself while providing the software that relies on it. That way, he wouldn’t need to cover problems that occurred through advancing technology. He would always be able to have access to the source and make changes and adjustments to the hardware as necessary.

  A knock could be heard from the door before Dr. Irvine entered with resolute steps. He looked as neatly dressed as ever, as sight Leon has long gotten used to.

  “What did they say about the new team?” Leon asked off-handedly, focusing more on unpacking the newly arrived boxes. He only had limited time at the lab, after all, and he needed to use every second he had.

  “There won’t be a new team,” Dr. Irvine said after a moment of hesitation. Stopping in place, Leon turned back to him, his expression lost in confusion.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that no new team members will work on the Vulcan System from here onwards. The board has reviewed the project and deemed that, to the other engineers and technicians, it would be preferable for them to work on their old projects, which will receive higher funding. They don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket.”

  “Ha.” Leon laughed. “Dr. Irvine, what does other projects mean? There are no other projects. Decent ones, sure, but this is not what puts them on the starting line next to GenoTech’s androids. They need something big, as big and special as the Vulcan System is! Wasn’t that the whole point?”

  Hearing him complain, Dr. Irvine nodded in agreement, but there was nothing he could do.

  “I understand, Leon, but that’s not how this works.”

  “Then how does that work? Explain it to me. Because in my eyes, there is only one option and they are too afraid to take it.”

  “The board is too afraid to take it. Alpha Dynamics, unlike the other mega-corporations which are mostly controlled by a single family, has multiple families and investors taking charge of it. The board needs a majority vote to pass approval, and not everybody wants to put their trust into a… well, an eighteen-year-old. No offense.”

  “Wow.” Leon scoffed in annoyance. “So, this is a one-man show now? That’s not what the contract says.”

  “They’re open to adjusting the contract. Raise your compensation to eight billion credits instead of three.”

  “Eight billion? That’s ludicrous. With such a number, they never truly believe the Vulcan System will be running on time.”

  “But it will be life-changing if you do get it done. The last paycheck you’ll ever have to get for the rest of your life.”

  “Please, that was true even with the three billion credits.”

  Shaking his head, Leon turned away, continuing to open the boxes. This wasn’t the great news he expected to hear today but he would need to deal with it.

  There was one thing that still bothered him.

  “How does it look on the funding and support?”

  “The same as before. A blank check. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, and you have full authority to see this through to the end.”

  “Full authority, they say,” Leon mumbled quietly to himself. “In that case, I need access to a couple of Alpha Dynamics’ satellites.”

  “Satellites?” Stunned, Dr. Irvine showed a flustered expression for the first time since he entered the room.

  “Yeah, I need access to use its data and connect it with these new server modules after installing them.”

  Dr. Irvine turned his head away momentarily, thinking about Leon’s request.

  “Access to the satellites is not something I can give you. That would need to go through some channels, possibly even the board.”

  “Well, then, try to do that because I need it.”

  “What if they say no?” The suited man asked, making Leon think for a moment.

  ‘Hmm, that’s a weird question. They ask me to build them a house, so the least they can do it provide the bricks. If the only thing I get is some wood, then the whole thing is going to burn down with a single stroke of lightning.”

  Finishing his words, Leon turned back to Dr. Irvine, who made a rather amused face at his metaphor.

  “Is that reasonable enough of an explanation for the board?”

  Smiling slightly, Dr. Irvine gave him a nod.

  “I’ll get it done.” With that, the man turned around and left the room. Meanwhile, Leon sighed.

  The situation showed no indication of getting better at any point. Still, he would continue moving forward all the way to the end. Even if nobody believes in him but himself.

  ……….

  “Adversity is the mother of success.”

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~