CHAPTER 16: THE SINGULARITY OF STRESS
The lab was a sterile, cold, and lonely place. The air was thick with the scent of burnt coffee and a pervasive sense of intellectual defeat. Alex was hunched over her laptop, her fingers a blur on the keyboard, a deep, weary sigh escaping her lips. She was in a full-blown existential crisis.
Her computer screen flashed a persistent error message, a red light blinking in the corner of her vision, a constant reminder of her failure. She had been working on it for days, with no progress. Her research, her career, her future—it was all on the line. She felt a new, unfamiliar fear, a fear that had nothing to do with her social anxiety. It was the fear of failure, the fear of being an impostor.
Aron was in his apartment, watching a documentary on the mating habits of the North American beaver when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. It was Alex. His heart sank. He knew this call was not for a chat.
He answered the phone, and her voice, normally so calm and collected, was a frantic mess, a torrent of technical jargon and panicked gibberish.
"Aron, I'm stuck!" she said, her voice on the verge of tears. "The code is a mess! The data is all wrong! The protein model is not folding correctly! I've been on this for days! My career is on the line!"
Aron just smiled, a calm, reassuring smile. He knew what was wrong. She was in a state of intellectual panic. She was looking for a solution, not a friend. But he was going to be a friend.
"Alex," Aron said, his voice a calm, reassuring whisper. "Take a deep breath. You're panicking. You're not thinking straight."
[SYSTEM: PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. PROTOCOL: HUMAN-CENTRIC. DEACTIVATING ALL SUB-ROUTINES.]
[SYSTEM: HUMOR SUB-ROUTINE: DEACTIVATED. NO JOKES RECOMMENDED AT THIS TIME.]
Aha. So you can be a good person, Aron thought, a small, triumphant smile on his face. You're not just a data-crunching machine. You can be human too.
Aron hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket. He had a plan, and it didn't involve the System. He was going to be a real friend, not a data point. He was going to be a person, not a puppet. He was going to be a human, not a puppet master.
He ran out of his apartment, his heart a frantic drumbeat in his chest. He was going to help his friend. He was going to save her career. He was going to be a human.
He was in the hallway when he ran into Sheldon.
"Aron!" Sheldon said, his voice a high-pitched squeak. "Are you running from the Fire Department? The statistical likelihood of a building fire is minimal. The probability of an evacuation is... well, it's a number."
Aron just laughed. He didn't have time for Sheldon's ridiculous questions.
"The best I can do is a caffeinated IT guy who knows where the fire exit is," Aron said, a laugh in his voice. "And I'm running toward a singularity of stress. A cosmic, career-ending singularity of stress."
He left Sheldon in the hallway, a confused, bewildered look on his face. He was running toward a new, terrifying, and exhilarating adventure. He was running toward a new, terrifying, and exhilarating adventure. He was running toward a new, terrifying, and exhilarating adventure.
He arrived at the lab, a calm, reassuring smile on his face. Alex was still hunched over her laptop, a single, lonely tear rolling down her cheek. He walked over to her, a single, calm, reassuring smile on his face. He sat down next to her, a single, calm, reassuring smile on his face. He looked at her, and she looked at him, her eyes tired but grateful. He didn't say a word. He just sat there, his silent presence a testament to his friendship. He was a real person. He was a real friend. And he was, for the first time, a real, genuine human being. The next time, he would have to use his own, genuine skills. The real him. The version of himself that was flawed, awkward, and, most importantly, human. This moment would be a pivotal turning point, forcing Aron to confront his reliance on the System. He had to learn to lose, to fail, to be a real, flawed human being.
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