Chapter 85: 84 Back To The Grind

Pepper had a business meeting scheduled, so after her little impromptu vacuum imitation, I kissed her goodbye with a promise to return the favor whenever she wanted. The look on her face was a mixture of pleasure and disbelief.

“We're both going to make out like bandits with this new deal. It's only fair you receive the same treatment.” I said and her face didn't change. “I've got one more week of day shifts at the office that's only two and a half blocks from here, so meeting for supper or later in the evening, is on the table. After that, my schedule changes and I've got to make my appearances at school.”

“Ben, you're in high school.” Pepper whispered.

“I am, probably for another six months. I'll look into what the upper years do for coursework and I'll try to cram for it as quickly as possible.” I promised. “The school has a merit system, so if I prove I can move on to college material by the summer...”

Pepper caught her breath. “You'll be free to do whatever you want. You can run your company full time and then pick up college courses in your spare time.”

“Which means...” I prompted with a smile.

“You'll be here in the building every day.” Pepper whispered.

“That's right! You and I will be neighbours when you stay in New York.” I said and walked over to the office door. “I promise to have a huge bag of sugar for you to stop by and borrow a cup of.”

Pepper let out a little laugh. “That's so cliche.”

“I know! Isn't it great?” I asked with my own laugh and left the office.

I needed to get home and catch up on my chores and then I would make a nice souffle or something to surprise May when she came home from work to eat. That gave me the idea to stop at a bookstore to browse some cookbooks for new meal ideas. With my spider powers, mostly my agility and dexterity, cooking multiple things at once wasn't a chore at all.

I also had a few other things to have Jarvis order for me in order to finish off and reclaim the discarded cell phone parts left over from constructing the monitoring devices that I was seeding all over Manhattan every night.

*

A week later, the recycling plant manager stared at the comprehensive environmental impact report that sat on his desk. He had no idea how it had appeared there and it wasn't until he had mentioned it to the workers that one of them mentioned a surprise health inspection a couple of weeks ago. The guy had started laughing and told him about offloading all of the old cell phones for proper disposal.

The manager called the guy into his office and the both of them went through the report. It was a bit dry, as all government reports are supposed to be, and they had been stunned at what it entailed. It was a lengthy process on how to handle any brand of cell phone that passed through the recycling plant. It would take up about an eighth of their floor space to install the new equipment they would need.

There were six disassembling robot arms, two large part sorting machines, two forges, two smelters, and the cooling station. Neither man questioned where they were going to get the funding or the equipment, because the notation on the cover letter stated that it would all be delivered next week.

Apparently, it was a massive cooperative donation from Stark Industries and Parker Incorporated. They were also sending over experts to give classes on how to run everything and to get the most out of it all. The equipment wasn't meant for just cell phones, either. Anything remotely electronic could be sent through, as long as the item's information was added to the database.

“Kevin, you better contact him and tell him we're accepting it all before he changes his mind.” The shift supervisor said.

The manager chuckled and moved the report out of the way to hand him a folded card.

“It only took me a year to get this done, from 2011 to 2012. You're welcome.” The supervisor read out loud and then laughed. “I'm really starting to like this kid!”

*

I stepped off the bus and looked around. I wasn't sure why I saw things a little differently now. School had been a major part of getting my new life together and I worked my ass off to catch up with the other students. It had been validation to myself that I not only succeeded in that goal, I surpassed it in some subjects. One of which I was going to be magnanimous about.

I did the whole coffee and donuts thing for the school's office, too. The look of longing on Mary's face when I entered, would have given her away if anyone else had been there to see it.

“I hope you liked the present that you said it didn't matter what it was.” I whispered to her.

Mary's face flushed red and she moved her right arm to show off the diamond tennis bracelet I had given her. “Everyone's asked me about it.”

“I hope you told them it was none of their business how great the Christmas break was.” I said with a smirk.

Mary let out a soft laugh. “They all think I have a secret boyfriend that I'm hiding from them.”

“Work really is just a different high school experience.” I joked and she laughed. “Do you want to do the honors or should I?”

Mary cleared her throat and spoke loudly. “Is that fresh coffee I smell?”

We were immediately surrounded and the coffee and donuts were pilfered and I was greeted like a returning hero before they all went back to their offices.

“Seeing them do that is funny every time.” I said and handed Mary her own bag of donuts. “Have a great day, Mary.”

“You too, Ben.” Mary said and glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then she gave me a quick kiss on the lips and pushed me towards the door.

I took the blatant hint to get out of there and made another coffee and donut run for the teacher's lounge. I had an ulterior motive this time and did the delivery, directed the teachers to their coffees and preferred donut choices, and waited.

As predicted, Mrs. Warren was one of the last teachers to approach to get her coffee. When she reached for the closest donut box, I held out a USB drive to her.

“What's that for?” Mrs. Warren asked as she took it.

“I figured out Peter's class project.” I said and her eyes widened. “He told you what it was, didn't he?”

Mrs. Warren nodded. “It's why I told you there was no way for you to learn enough about computer programming to complete it.”

“Complete it? Why would I do that?” I asked her and she looked surprised. “The concept was good; but, his execution was inherently flawed. His tendency to pull everything into a program to get it to run, reminded me suspiciously of a certain tech billionaire's operating system that sucks up computer resources like a dry sponge in a shallow puddle.”

“That... he...” Mrs. Warren shook her head. “What did you do to Peter's project?”

“I junked it and created a new one. One that works. One that doesn't need anything more powerful than a high end cell phone to run.” I said and she caught her breath. “By the way, it's proprietary software and I own the patent. You have my permission to review it and to keep a copy for your own use.”

Mrs. Warren stared at me and didn't speak.

“However, you do not have my permission to share it, give copies to others, disassemble it, or use parts of my coding in anything else. If you do break those conditions, you'll have the best law firm in the city suing you and covering you with so many injunctions that you won't be able to breathe without having another one shoved in your face.”

“You can't talk to me like that!” Mrs. Warren gasped.

“I have to make things perfectly clear, just so you can't misconstrue my intentions. You are borrowing my software. That's it. It's not owned by the school because I didn't create it here. It's not a part of the computer sciences course materials and I am not a student in your class.” I said and she winced. “I did this solely to prove to you what a mistake you made. You assumed I wasn't smart enough to figure out what Peter did. I not only did that, I crushed it and made it into a real and functional program.”

“How?” Mrs. Warren asked.

“Because my brain works differently than his did.” I said and her eyes widened. “Peter was blinded by emulation, just like Stark is. There was no real innovation, just copying and improving. They both needed original thoughts from others before they could do anything creative.”

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Mrs. Warren looked at the USB in her hand. “Then what's this?”

“Proof that I don't suffer from that limitation.” I said and started to walk away. “Enjoy your coffee.”

*

I walked into third period math class and wasn't sure what to think about the morning I had. Latin class first period had been an exercise in ignorance. Miss Romani treated me the same as my physics teacher Mr. Morales did for second period, as if I didn't exist. I wasn't sure what I had done to annoy her or piss her off, because I had diligently checked all four of my phones constantly, just in case I missed anything while I was busy.

Then again, she never texted me, so I wasn't beholden to her or even required to send her a Christmas card. I had thought about confronting her, except trying to have that kind of conversation at school was just asking for trouble.

“Ben! Over here.” Val said and waved to me.

I stopped walking towards my normal desk and looked around. To my surprise, Liz now sat in my seat on the far side of the classroom and Max, Val, and Gina pointed to her vacant seat. I looked from them to Liz, who blushed and shook her head as she waved me towards them.

“We don't have all day for you to make a decision, Mr. Parker.” The teacher commented without looking up from his desk.

I sighed and walked over to the girls and sat in Liz's normal seat. “What's going on?”

“Self-imposed penance.” Max said with a shrug.

“She didn't really explain why she thinks this is a good idea.” Gina said and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. “We tried to argue about it and she refused to change her mind.”

I shook my head. “She's not considering her position properly. If she stops acting like she's the top student in the school, everyone will notice.”

“That's what I said.” Max said with a huff. “We'll try again next class. If she's still got her head set like this by lunch, we'll need to take steps.”

I chuckled. “You make it sound like she needs an intervention.”

“Hey, that's exactly it!” Val said and grinned. “She desperately needs a mistake intervention!”

The class bell rang and brought an end to the conversation.

The work assigned during class was downright easy in comparison to what I had tackled at work for R&D. It barely touched on anything I hadn't already studied and I was sure the year's final exams were going to be a breeze, because this was a senior math class. I would only have to study hard for the couple of courses I didn't really like, namely social sciences and non-euclidean geometry.

“We'll meet you in the cafeteria.” Val said as we all left the classroom.

I nodded at the hint to stay away for a few minutes and watched as the three girls met with Liz and they walked off. I had some time to waste, so I went to the computer sciences lab to ask the teacher if she had a chance to review the program I had made. I did not expect to see a silently crying Mrs. Warren being comforted by a man I didn't know. I hung back and stood just to the side of the door and listened.

“It's not your fault that you followed the course guidelines, sweetie.” The man said.

“I just wish I hadn't mentioned them to him. He wouldn't have reacted like he did and left the class.”

The man sighed. “That didn't matter in the end. He didn't complete the assignment in time and would have been dropped anyway.”

“That's what he said. He didn't want to wait until the Christmas break to drop out, because he knew he couldn't complete the assignment.” Mrs. Warren said and pointed at her computer screen. “I want you to look at that and tell me he doesn't deserve to have the top spot in the class!”

The man sighed again. “It doesn't matter. One of the first requirements of the course is working hard under pressure, persevering, and overcoming set limitations. Your previous student buckled as soon as you tried to tell him the time limit. He didn't even try to work around it or toughed it out. He gave up and left, which tells you a lot about his personality.”

I stepped into the room and both of them froze. “Yes, it tells you that I won't take condescension from anyone. If you can't believe in me, I won't believe in you. You easily could have coached me, let me keep the lab time to work, or offered after school lessons to get me up to speed. You did nothing but discourage me and inferred that I was stupid, right after I told you I had amnesia.”

She looked even sadder and the man looked angry.

“I absolutely refuse to be around anyone that could treat someone like that. All it would do is make me believe I couldn't do something when I was more than capable of doing it.” I said and nodded to her computer. “I went to school during the day, worked at a job in the evenings, and then got another job for the holidays to work during the day. I wrote that program in my spare time between doing chores and cooking supper.”

Mrs. Warren's tears flowed and the man lost the angry look.

“Imagine what I could have done if I had someone to teach me instead of learning it all for myself.” I said and walked over to the computer.

The virtual walk through program was playing the intro video. I had only had time to add the school as a location and left the addition of other locations as modules that could easily be added. I shut it down and popped the USB out.

“Your husband has convinced me to change my mind about giving you a copy. You'll have to buy it for yourself when it goes on the market next month.” I said and walked by them to the door. “Teachers will get a discount, because it's a learning tool.”

“You already sold the idea?” Mrs. Warren asked, surprised.

“Why would I sell it? My company is going to produce it and make another fortune.” I said and both she and her husband looked shocked. “Say hello and goodbye to the co-owner of Parker Incorporated, the brand new corporation to hit the market. It has multiple divisions for everything, including an exclusive programming department.”

Neither of them said anything.

“Like I told you before, I don't suffer the limitations of copying others. I'm the youngest self-made multi-millionaire, soon to be billionaire.” I said and then gave them a bright smile. “By the way, I'm just getting started.”

They stood there as I waved goodbye and I went to the cafeteria.

I might have laid it on a little thick there. I thought with a laugh. I just couldn't stop trying to rub their faces in them making a mistake, the teacher for not helping me and him for trying to tell her she was right to not help me.

That just pissed me off, because in retrospect, I knew for a fact that if she had helped me as much as Gladys the librarian did, it was entirely possible I would have completed the project in time. Then again, I would have been stuck in school on Mondays and wouldn't have worked for Bestman Salvage instead.

Despite the hiccups early on, things were starting to work out for me. My personal and professional lives were on track, I was raking in the money, and I was expanding the company in multiple directions and diversifying my portfolio. There wasn't really much left for me to do, except figure out how to make Jarvis an appropriate body.

I had mulled it over all week and I was sure I had the basis for a good plan. It was just going to require some subtlety, some misdirection, stealing... ahem... creatively borrowing a Quinjet, and a quick trip halfway around the world for a bit of shopping.

You know, a typical weekend for a super-powered super spy.

I entered the cafeteria and was happy to see Liz was sitting with her friends, including Betty and Cindy. There wasn't much room left for me at the table, though. Max solved this by repeating her trick at Liz's party and used me as a chair after I sat down. Like before, not one single person mentioned it or even gave us a second look.

“All right, Ben! Hand over all of that deliciousness.” Max ordered.

“You're already on my lap, Max.” I joked and everyone laughed.

Max grinned and me. “The other deliciousness, you magnificent bastard.”

I laughed and handed her my thermal lunch bag.

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