MOAB

Chapter 5i^4

Chapter 5i^4

The house was neat and tidy. The living room was a smidge too bright for human eyes, so Ourania pulled back the curtains enough to darken it an f-stop down. Yanni was absorbed by his work. She brought the carefully-made breakfast, optimized in nutrients and vitamins to help Yanni maintain gnosis state. She placed the tray next to him, pulling over a small table so as not to disturb his desktop chaos. She brushed her finger on his neck as she walked past him and his biometric readings popped up into her view. She compared the actual numbers to the projected ones and made appropriate adjustments to her scheduled actions. He was right in the optimal place, “in the zone” as some would call it. She simply called it gnosis.

“It’s not working,” Yanni complained to himself as soon as he found an audience.

Ourania waited silently for the complete picture.

He shuffled through his papers and cursed, “Gamoto, it’s not here!”

“What do you need?”

“I can’t even begin to explain… Just some data.”

“As in…”

Yanni leaned back in the chair and eyed her as if she were a blonde bimbo. “The Euler number in Calabi-Yau crossings. In ordinary projected spaces,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Matrix size?”

“602.”

“It’s easier if I write it down,” she said and looked around for a writing pad.

“Actually, I need only the dimensions,” he said.

“10,12.”

“Wow. Thanks Ourania,” he said and started jotting down calculations even before the end of the sentence. Ourania knew better than to interrupt him, so she smiled in acknowledgment and sat on the sofa.

For a frantic few minutes, Yanni mumbled and scribbled, mumbled and scribbled.

Then he crumpled the paper in his fist and threw it across the room.

Ourania could take a reading, but she was sure that his gnosis was off anyway. “They say that when a path is blocked, taking our mind off it for a little while can reveal a new way.”

Yanni paced around the place for a while and then threw his body on the couch next to her, exhaling loudly.

She asked, “Where you always good at Physics?”

“Funnily enough, no. I remember a time that I hated physics at school.”

“And what changed?”

“I met a girl. I was average in Physics but she was horrible in it. I liked her and I wanted to get to know her.”

“That is exciting! So, did you?”

“Yes, Nikos practically shoved me next to her one day. I made some incoherent noises but she didn’t notice, she was upset about an exam. She was worried about failing the class. So I said I could help her pass the exam.”

“But you were horrible as well!”

“Yes, I was! She was so glad, she hugged me, gave me her number and left. I was left thinking about how I got myself into that mess. I ran home, stayed up all night and studied for the physics exam.” Yanni kept quiet for a few moments as if recollecting all the exhaustion he’d felt. “I went to school, she took me back to her place, I taught her a few things and went straight back home to study again. It was pretty much the same for a whole week, barely sleeping, studying all the time, teaching what I learnt straight to her. Exam time came, we both passed with good grades. All I remember was Nikos taking me home and the sweet feeling of headbutting my pillow. When I woke up, I realised that I was actually good at this Physics s**t and that I had spent hours next to the girl I liked. I went on to the university, loony theories, a few minor awards and the funding from Demokritos. Up until today.”

“And what happened to the girl?”

“The girl didn’t learn much more of physics since then, but she stayed by my side, every day and every moment. She became my muse and then my fiance.”

“Thalia.”

“The same. Which reminds me, where’s my cellphone? I should call her.”

“I keep it next room so you are not disturbed.”

“That’s fine, but fetch it for me now.”

Ourania pursed her lips. “Certainly, but I suggest an exercise before you lose focus. It is proven to yield results in many specialists.”

Yanni raised an eyebrow in elevated interest. “Nobelists?”

“In all honesty, no; a mere couple of patents. I assure you though that it has positive results.”

“What sort of exercise is it?”

“It’s quite simple. It’s called visualization.”

“Nah, I don’t believe in that skata,” he said and went back to his cluttered office. He wiped off a piece of an equation from the whiteboard which had become his focus.

Ourania smiled and walked back into the kitchen. She checked to make sure the cellphone was turned off and began preparing his meal. Yanni had forgotten about calling his wife once more.