Three days after the lunch with Harrison Wells, Barry sat in his office reviewing the Tesla purchase order.
The document was 47 pages long. Legal language. Technical specifications. Delivery schedules. Payment terms. Everything meticulously detailed.
But the bottom line was simple: $87 million for initial battery deliveries. Another $340 million committed over eighteen months if performance metrics were maintained.
$427 million total. From one customer.
Barry signed the agreement electronically and sent it back. The first major commercial contract for his company. A company that hadn't existed six months ago. A company that would now generate revenue that put it in the unicorn category within a year.
His phone rang. Forbes Magazine. The interview Katherine Myers had scheduled.
Barry answered. "This is Barry Allen."
"Mr. Allen, Katherine Myers. Ready to start the interview?"
"Go ahead."
For the next thirty-five minutes, Barry answered questions about his background, his technology, and his vision for the future. He was careful. Revealing enough to be interesting but not so much that competitors could reverse-engineer his innovations.
Katherine asked about his age. Twenty-three. That would be a major angle in the article. Young genius disrupting a massive industry.
She asked about his education. Forensic science degree. Self-taught in engineering and materials science. Another angle. Unconventional path to success.
She asked about his goals. Barry gave her the prepared answer about advancing human capability through technology. Making energy storage so efficient that electric vehicles became superior to combustion engines in every way.
Professional. Polished. Exactly what Forbes readers would want to hear.
"Last question," Katherine said. "What drives you? Most people your age are still figuring out their careers. You're building a company worth hundreds of millions. What's the motivation?"
Barry paused. Considered the real answer. That he'd transmigrated from another world with meta-knowledge and enhanced intellect. That he was preparing for a particle accelerator explosion that would grant him superpowers. That his ultimate goal was becoming powerful enough to shape the future rather than be shaped by it.
Obviously couldn't say any of that.
"I watched my parents die in a car accident when I was eight," Barry said instead. True, even if the emotional weight was diluted by his transmigration. "That taught me life is fragile. Time is limited. If you're going to do something meaningful, you can't wait for the perfect moment. You have to create it."
"That's powerful," Katherine said quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"It was a long time ago. But it shaped who I am."
The interview concluded. Katherine promised the article would run in two weeks. Barry hung up and immediately shifted mental gears.
Forbes exposure would accelerate everything. More customers. More investor interest despite not needing investors. More public profile.
Which created security concerns. The more visible Barry became, the more vulnerable his secrets were. The Thinking Cap. The stolen DeVoe research. The careful timeline manipulation he'd been doing.
"Gideon, security assessment. If Forbes article generates major media attention, what's our exposure risk?"
"Analyzing." Three seconds. "Primary risks: increased scrutiny of patent timeline raises questions about rapid development. Background checks by potential partners or competitors may uncover shell companies used for initial funding. Social connections to Joe and Iris West could create pressure to explain sudden wealth and career change."
All manageable. Barry's patents were legitimate even if the development timeline was impossibly fast. The shell companies were properly structured with layers of legal separation. And his relationship with the Wests was easily explained as childhood connections.
"Mitigation strategies?" Barry asked.
"Recommend preparing media-friendly narrative about autodidactic learning and intensive research periods. Establish professional distance from personal relationships to prevent perception of impropriety. Consider hiring PR consultant to manage public image proactively."
Good recommendations. Barry made notes. He'd need to be more careful going forward. More deliberate about what he revealed and when.
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