AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Two
It all happened, when I went to publish my dissertation. I had studied astrophysics and was working on code that would assist an AI's physics’ engine. It used special calculations, to predict the movements in space, which allowed a ship to launch, drive, and land itself, while incorporating the trajectories of other space junk.
It was immensely complicated and only a small improvement on previous designs, but it brought us closer to auto-piloted space travel. No astronaut needed. Anyone could jump in and go.
My code needed a ton of work, but I was in a good enough space to publish and to earn my doctorate. I assumed I would move on to a fancy research institution with “Technology” in the name, near a coast somewhere. It was there that I would continue working on the formulae until I was too old to care, and could pass it on to the next generation.
That sounded like the perfect life, to be honest. I didn't want anything too exciting. I just wanted to do physics—in space—how cool is that?
However, when I went to publish, that future crumbled. I submitted my paper for review, only to get the following response: “The content of your paper is too similar to a recent patent from ExploreR. We suggest you do not try to publish. They have been known to be aggressive over their intellectual property.”
I stared at the reviewers' response. This idea was eight years in the making. I had poured eight years of my blood, sweat, tears, and every other fluid (especially the brain fluids) into my paper.
How in the hell did ExploreR make the same thing?
After the initial, disbelieving shock had passed—and I reread the rejection several times—I shot over to the government's patent database. I searched for ExploreR's name and narrowed down my search.
There it was—in plain ink on my screen. They claimed to be able to do exactly what I had discovered. The language even matched my dissertation.
How the hell did they discover it?
I thought about it for a second, and then I realized something horrible. My school used a server system called ServeR, where we stored all of our research and documents. That's where I'd been running my programs. The email program I used to send my adviser my drafts—SendeR.
All of those programs were under the control of ExploreR and Rob Michaels. They'd invaded my privacy, stolen my research, and patented it, before I could publish.
My apartment is still a mess from the rage-fit I threw that night. But then, I reminded myself that I had an ace in the hole—well, two actually.
First, my brother is a lawyer, an injury claims lawyer, sure, but still a lawyer.
Second, there was a secret in the code, itself, and as there were over a million lines of code, there was no way they had found my Easter egg. Maybe I could fight this, with that.
I called my brother and explained the situation, ugly-crying the whole time. He worked his mediocre lawyer magic and miraculously got me a meeting with their legal team. He said they take complaints like this very seriously.
I hoped that they were hoping to intimidate me into giving up the case and that, if I wasn't going to back down, they would try to pay me off.
They stole my doctorate. “Publish or perish,” but with that rejection, I was the one who had perished. ExploreR was going to pay, in more ways than cash.
