CHAPTER 19: THE EMOTIONAL ALGORITHM
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.
[SYSTEM: EMOTIONAL ANALYSIS: TARGET: ALEX DUNPHY. STATUS: OVERLOADED. RECOMMEND DE-STRESSING PROTOCOL.]
Aron, with the System's help, calmly walked her through the situation. He gave her advice that sounded like a cross between a therapist and an engineer. "Your brain is running too many subroutines at once. You need to close a few tabs. You're trying to solve too many problems at once. You need to focus on one thing. You need to focus on the problem at hand."
Alex's frantic typing stopped. "Did you just call my anxiety a background process?" she said, her voice a mix of bafflement and gratitude.
Aron just laughed. "I'm just a good debugger," he said, a genuine smile on his face.
They talked for a long time, their conversation a deep, emotional, and genuine connection. They talked about their fears, their insecurities, their doubts. He didn't offer a solution. He just listened. He listened to her fears, her insecurities, her doubts.
[SYSTEM: EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROTOCOL: TRIVIAL. NEXT STEP: RECOMMEND A PRE-PRESENTATION RITUAL. SUGGEST: A HUG.]
Aron, of course, ignored that one.
Alex, who was now sitting on the floor, a calm, relaxed look on her face, just sighed. "Your advice actually helped. You're the only one who can talk to me this way. You're the only one who understands."
"You're the smartest person I know," Aron said, his voice a low, genuine whisper. "Your brain is a supercomputer. Just let it run. Just let it do what it does best. It's a powerful tool. It's a powerful weapon. It's a powerful weapon that can be used to solve any problem. It's a powerful weapon that can be used to solve any problem."
He felt a new sense of ease, a sense of genuine connection that had nothing to do with the System. He was just a guy, talking to a girl he liked, and he had helped her. He had a secret, a power, and a growing connection with a girl who saw him for who he really was. He had a great story to tell Alex. He knew she would appreciate the ridiculousness of it.
Love [ The Big Bang Theory IT Guy ]? Unlock More Chapters and Support the Story!
Dive deeper into the world of [ The Big Bang Theory IT Guy ] with exclusive access to 35+ chapters on my Patreon, plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $5/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes like [Grimm, Teen Wolf ,blacklist,Game Of Throne ,MCU and Arrowverse].
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
👉 Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!