Chapter 126 - 126. Genius Of The Century
The meeting with the queen went very smoothly. Magnus had told her where he was living and she could come to his home to meet and talk to Adam, but he also warned her that if she tried anything funny then that house would turn into her worst nightmare.
He may have called her granny but he certainly didn't trust her like one. For now, it was just a relationship of interest. He had allowed her to be a royal because if he were to kick her out of the throne then it would cause a huge scandal which would hurt the image of the crown.
But what made him still feel a little uneasy was that it was highly likely that Prince Philip was still hating him. It may cause some headache to him later on. But, for now, he was just happy.
"That went good, didn't expect her to be so nice," Adam said as they reached home.
But Grace scoffed, "Huh, then you are too naive, my dear husband. All I saw on her face was a hard, experienced politician. She was being very careful with us."
"Yes, Aunty is right. She was being very careful and her eyes were constantly looking at Magnus' face, trying to understand his inner thoughts." Ragnar added.
Magnus smiled and shrugged, "You know, the Taj Mahal took 20 years and 20,000 workers to build. Can you imagine the sheer work it took to do that back in those days."
Martha smiled, knowing where Magnus was getting to. Grace, Adam and Ragnar were confused though.
"And? What's that got to do with the queen?" Ragnar asked.
"Emperor Shah Jahan, after completion of Taj Mahal, ordered his soldiers to cut the hands of all 20,000 workers so no other building like that could ever be erected. Even after those poor people worked tirelessly for 20 years, the Emperor didn't trust them. Then how can we expect the Queen to trust us? As even I don't trust her.
"We just have a mutual understanding at this point." He explained.
Grace looked at her hands, "Hmm, that's really crazy. It's like... Someone wanting to chop my hands after I do their surgery."
"Don't worry, aunty, if anybody tries to harm you, I will punish them." Ragnar proudly claimed.
"Of course you would." She ruffled his hair.
In all honesty, he wanted to say he'd chop their heads but he refrained as this was not the time to get lectured.
"QUACK..."
Duck had also come with them. As they now lived in a big mansion with a large garden, there was enough space for him to stand.
At the moment, gone was the dangerous and scary looking Annihilus, now here was Duck, the cute sweet Dragon.
Grace chuckled and went to Duck, "Aww... Look at you, so grown up. Come here, boy. Want belly rubs?"
Duck quickly laid down on his back to let Grace scratch him.
"Haha... Are you sure you're a dragon and not a puppy?" She asked.
*Woosh*
Duck left out a small tube of fire from his mouth.
"WAIT... YOU UNDERSTAND OUR WORDS?" Grace exclaimed.
"Yes, mum. He can understand us. But he's very childish sometimes and ignores our words while acting as if he doesn't understand." Magnus told her.
Martha also flew to Duck and patted his giant head, "Yeah, Duck does that sometimes. He's a drama queen."
"Hmph!" Duck turned his face in dissatisfaction.
"See..." Martha said with her arms wide.
"Hehe... Well, Duck is our little Drama Queen. He's very young, Magnus used to be like that too when he was young. He used to show tantrums when wearing clothes after bathing.
"Once, he forced me to let him wear his diapers over his pants. Thankfully, he didn't make a mess during that time." Grace started speaking with a smile on her face and eyes reminiscing about the past.
Magnus grunted in annoyance, "Why do you always start telling my embarrassing stories?"
"Because they are the most memorable, sweetie. Ah, do you want to hear about your potty training? It was very funny. Adam had mistakenly bought an oversized potty training seat and when he sat on..." She continued another story, much to Magnus' annoyance.
"Lalalalalala I can't hear you. LALALALALA..." Magnus put his palms on his ears and ran inside the house.
But Ragnar was still there, sitting beside Duck and resting his head on Ducks' head, as both listened to Grace with focus, "Continue the story, aunty. I will embarrass him later with it."
"Oh, then..." Grace continued.
...
Oxford University, Grove Auditorium,
"The current speed at which we are advancing in the transistors and semiconductors field, it's not too hard to guess that one day, we will have artificial intelligence that will be able to handle most of our day to day tasks. I'm not talking about robots. But instead something like a washing machine that you can control from the other side of the world, you can command it to start washing the clothes. Or an air conditioner, that will know when you are near home. Or maybe a document management assistant.
"I was not long ago in the United States of America. I had the chance to meet many very intelligent people. They were all visionaries.
"I learned about something called Galactic Network there. It was a term that interested me a lot, so I started looking into it.
"J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in August 1962 discussed his "Galactic Network" concept. He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programmes.
"Licklider was the first head of the computer research programme at DARPA. While at DARPA he convinced his successors at DARPA, Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, and MIT researcher Lawrence G. Roberts, of the importance of this networking concept.
"A few years later, something called ARPNET was created. ARPANET, Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, an experimental computer network.
"The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), an arm of the U.S. Defence Department, funded the development of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in the late 1960s. Its initial purpose was to link computers at Pentagon-funded research institutions over telephone lines. They wanted to use it as a network because, you know, the Cold War is still going on. But, it became too big to be a secret network.
"But, I want you to imagine. Today, with the limited technology of this era, we are able to create a network of computers like ARPNET. In a few years, when technologies become more advanced, efficient and cheaper, there can be a giant computer network that would span the whole world. You will be able to talk to someone sitting in Tokyo instantly, and send him files and pictures immediately. As I said, endless possibilities.
"Now, for all the enthusiasts, this year in October, a large demonstration of the ARPANET at the International Computer Communication Conference (ICCC) will take place. Anybody who wants to see it can come there.
Thank you for listening to me, I hope we will have a good time studying here together."
*Clap Clap*
Bobby stepped down from the stage. Today was his first day at college. High school was too boring. But he had also kept his earlier team of computer enthusiasts with him. Not all of them could graduate high school in advance but they were still talented in the ways of computers.
Here, at Oxford University, Bobby was a famous boy. Because not only he owns a successful computer company, but his computer is also a hit. With Magnus' funding, they were now looking to start manufacturing too, but for the most part, they were looking for manufacturers in other countries. As outsourcing was cheaper.
Bobby was being hailed as a super genius of the century. Even some news outlets were asking him for interviews but he was not ready back then. But now he was.
Today he was asked to give a speech to the Computer department of the University. It was a relatively new department but the most importance was being given to it because this was the future and if they didn't invest in it now, they would always be behind. Now, they were very happy with the addition of someone like Bobby, who was already a genius.
Bobby shook hands with some faculty members and then headed to a room on the other side of the auditorium. It was a room full of reporters, from various news outlets, tech magazines.
He took a seat, on his left sat the New Head of Computer Science Department and on his right sat the Vice-Chancellor. They were here just for the photos though.
Bobby showed his normal smile, "Thank you for waiting, I got a little carried away at that speech. Please ask questions orderly."
Quickly a man stood up from his chair and asked. "Mr Armstrong, what do you have to say about you being named the genius of the century by various news media in the UK and the US?"
Bobby suddenly saw a face in his mind, remembering that if he was not given the right push towards his studies by him then he wouldn't be such a genius as they call him.
He smiled, "I am flattered first of all, but, this world has 3.8 billion people, I am sure that there is someone more intelligent than me out there, but, due to being born in the wrong part of the world, they might never get to develop themselves.
"But, I can with guarantee say that I am not the smartest kid. In fact, I know someone who is many times smarter than me. But, I am not at the liberty to reveal his name. Perhaps, in a few years, all of you will know him, and even interview him."
His declaration was wild, who can be smarter than a 12-year-old kid who created a computer. But people stayed calm, they knew that Bobby had no reason to lie and what he said may just be true and there was a monster level genius hiding somewhere.
Soon, another person asked him, "What do you want to become when you grow up?"
"Haha, I am already successful in business. But, I do have a dream, though I will not share it with the world right now. If I am able to fulfil it, then you will know it automatically. On the other hand, for now, I want to make sure that our country does not lack behind in terms of computer research and innovation because computers are the gold of the future, you fail to jump on this bandwagon, you will forever be stuck behind." He replied.
His interview went on for an hour. He answered all the questions as today was the day he finally set foot in front of the public eye, officially.
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