She sighs. “Do you remember how innovative we used to be?”
“I do.”
“What happened to that?”
Tears fill up his eyes. “I don’t know.”
“We developed the world’s best Augmented Reality smartglasses. We had so many breakthroughs for Project Bodi. I wish we could go back in time.”
He nods. “Honestly, we’re shadows of our former selves. Insights were effortless back then. New ideas came naturally.”
“We took it for granted.”
The train races towards Hayward. Austin sits upright. “Why can’t we innovate, Beth? Why are we stuck in such a rut?”
She shrugs. “We live in a state of war. It’s impossible to take risk when you’re terrified and oppressed.”
He dries his eyes with his sleeve. “I think of Olivia all the time.”
“Your ex-wife?”
“Yeah. I have dreams about her and Matthew every night. My psychiatrist says I’m depressed.”
“Why don’t you contact her?”
“She blocked me from messaging her. She doesn’t want to hear from me.”
Beth touches his shoulder. “Listen, what happened to Matthew was not your fault. You can’t blame yourself for it.”
“I know that… at the time, I was so angry and upset and I took it out on Olivia, and now I wish I could apologize to her.”
“Give her a call, Austin. Let her know how you feel.”
He shakes his head. “I can’t do that. She has already moved on.”
The train stops at Hayward. They disembark and make their way back to the aboveground Hyperloop station. Beth covers herself with a headscarf and keeps a low profile.
Austin leans over and whispers as they walk. “I just remembered something. Did you ever read Shiv’s book?”
Her tension eases. “Shiv Patel, our former CEO. What an intelligent human being. I wish he was still around.”
“The world needs his vision and compassion. If only our leaders had his qualities.”
“What was Shiv’s book called?”
“‘Awaken the Power of Insight.’ It was the most important work I’ve ever read.”
Beth smiles. “I do remember that. Wasn’t it a guide to improve your innovation?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Do you have a copy?”
“I have it here on my smartglasses. Let me read the preface to you.” He clicks on an icon and opens the book in his viewer. “Dear Google employee—”
“That’s right,” Beth interrupts, “Shiv wrote it as a guide for our new employees. He wanted them to harness their innovation and be as productive as they could be—”
“Which is why it’s pertinent. Listen to this.” He clears this throat and continues reading. “Dear Google employee, the human mind has infinite potential. Every one of us is capable of being successful and innovative. If we are willing to listen, the subconscious mind will give us the insights we need to solve our most pressing challenges. The key is to listen to our minds and receive this intuition. Our grandest ambitions can be achieved if we listen to our inner mind.”
Beth contemplates as she walks. “Shiv was such a visionary. He knew how to uplift his employees to their full potential. That’s the true quality of a leader.”
Austin beams. “His book changed my life. I learned how to tap into the deepest part of my brain and extract the answers to my challenges. That’s how I unlocked the innovations for Project Bodi.”
“You tapped into your subconscious mind?”
“Exactly.”
She looks at him. “How did you do that?”
“Mindfulness exercises and the Four Noble Truths, just like the book described. I learned to abandon my ego and listen for insights. I reached an awakened state and saw the world as it truly is, not as I want it to be.”
Beth strides faster. “That’s it!” Her eyes light up. “That’s exactly what we need right now. We have to go back to our core values. We need to awaken our spirits and access our creative roots. We have to fight hatred and terror with patience and compassion.”
Austin chuckles. “You sound like Shiv. He always said that in the eyes of an angry foe, patience is a superpower. You defeat your enemies by taking the higher road.”
Beth removes her headscarf and exposes her face in public. “Listen, it’s time to stand up for ourselves. We have to innovate and return to our pioneering soul. That’s the only way we can defeat Manos and the CIA.”
Austin tries to keep up with his boss. “But Beth, there’s nothing left to solve. We can’t stop the government with technology.”
“That’s not true!” She throws her hands in the air. “What about Project Titan?”
They take an elevator up to the Hyperloop station and board an inbound train to San Francisco, sitting alone away from the other commuters.
She whispers to him. “We have to solve nuclear fusion. Clean energy is the solution for our world.”
“Yes, but—”
“Hydrocarbons are the root cause of this mass extinction we’ve created for ourselves. We should have ended our addiction to fossil fuels decades ago.”
Austin groans. “I understand, but a nuclear plant won’t be easy to build. The odds are against us.”
She stares into his eyes. “Was it simple to construct the world’s first engine, airplane or rocket? Was it easy to send a man to the moon or sequence the genome? It will definitely not be easy to build the world’s first functional fusion reactor, but we can’t let that stop us.”
“You’re right, Beth.”
“Innovation is a minefield fraught with failures and disappointment. Only the persistent will succeed. We must keep our eyes on the goal and stay motivated.”
“I’m with you,” he replies, staring out from the train window. “We need to invent like we used to. I’m just not sure how.”
“Let me ask you this. What’s the primary issue holding back Project Titan?”
He stumbles. “…we need a laser source to heat the zirconium shell to 100 million degrees and ignite the reaction…”
“And?”
“Well, there’s no laser on earth capable of doing that.”
Beth frowns. “There must be another solution. I refuse to give up hope.”
Austin spots a metro map and glances at the next destination—Palo Alto. He remembers something. “You know, on my way here I got a call from Anil Anaya.”
“The one who discovered the countdown?”
“Yes, you remember him. He has a radical solution for a new power supply. Frankly, it’s a bit crazy.”
“What’s his plan?”
Austin laughs. “He says we can harness gravitational waves to kick-start the fusion reaction.”
“How?”
“I’m not sure, but he thinks we can use this signal from space to our advantage. It sounds impractical to me.”
Her eyes widen. “Why don’t we give it a try?”
“I’m not sure it will work. Anil is young and idealistic. He’s the junior programmer on the team.”
“So what? This is exactly the animal spirits I’m looking for. When someone on your team exceeds your expectations, you have to foster him and kindle his fire.”
“Well, hold on for a second.” He holds up his hands. “It’s an impulsive idea not backed by any evidence.”
She wags a finger. “That doesn’t matter. Thirst and hunger drive innovation. We have to fail a dozen times before reaching success. You can’t dismiss new ideas.”
The train stops at Palo Alto. Beth gets up and runs for the exit.
Austin shouts, “Where are you going? We are supposed to go to Mountain View.”
She stops and turns. “Change of plans. Call your team and tell them to meet us in Palo Alto. It’s time to put all our resources on Project Titan.”