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( Bonus Chapter)
After handing the Jaeger proposal to Patricia, Ryan put it out of his mind.
Twenty billion dollars didn't get approved by anyone who answered their phone on a weekday. That decision would take weeks, maybe months, and would involve people whose names he'd never know and whose offices he'd never visit. Worrying about it was wasted energy.
His life settled back into rhythm. Mornings in the office, working through the liquid neural connection equations. Afternoons with his family.
Tom and Lisa brought up leaving within a few days. The purpose of the trip had been fulfilled: they'd seen their son, watched Scrapper walk without a cable, eaten at the off-campus restaurant three times, and confirmed that Ryan was fed, housed, and not yet running a criminal enterprise. The machining shop was sold. There was nothing pulling them back to Crestfield.
They were going traveling. A road trip across the country. National parks, small towns, diners Tom had bookmarked on his phone. The kind of trip they'd talked about for years and never taken because there was always a shop to run and bills to watch.
Now there wasn't.
August 22nd. The train station.
"Be safe," Lisa said, holding Ryan's face one more time. "Call me."
"I will."
Tom shook his hand. "Don't let the robot step on anyone."
"I'll try."
The train pulled away. Ryan waved until it was gone, then turned to find Chloe standing behind him, hands on her hips, watching the departing train with the expression of someone who'd just been handed a responsibility she hadn't asked for.
Tom and Lisa had left her behind.
Their logic was practical: Chloe's film school started in the same city in two weeks. Going home to Crestfield just to come back was a waste of a plane ticket. Better to stay, settle in early, explore the area.
Chloe's parents had agreed. Ryan had not been consulted.
"Lunch," Chloe said, already steering him toward a taxi. "I saw a place near campus that does fried chicken that doesn't look terrible."
Ryan sighed and followed. He called Calloway's office from the cab to arrange a guest room in faculty housing near his own. Then, because the call was already happening, he brought up the supplementary funding.
"President Calloway, I was wondering about the timeline for the road repair costs. We're eager to begin remediation, but as you know, the project's current balance is somewhat constrained."
Calloway's voice was flat. "The funding is in process. Stop calling me about it."
"Of course. Just wanted to ensure there were no bureaucratic delays."
"The only delay is that you keep calling me instead of letting the paperwork move. It'll be done."
"And the amount?"
A pause. Then, with the weary generosity of a man who'd accepted his fate: "You'll be satisfied."
Ryan hung up and smiled.
After settling Chloe into her room, he headed to the workshop. The firefighting mech project was in full swing, and he wanted to see where they'd gotten.
The workshop was crowded. Every researcher and professor was on the floor, clustered around a display area covered with material samples. Fabric swatches. Metal panels. Ceramic tiles. Clay blocks. Even a shaped firebrick sat among the collection like a punchline nobody had gotten around to removing.
A fire pit in the center of the group suggested they'd been running live burn tests.
"Planning to build the mech out of fireplace bricks?" Ryan asked, nudging the firebrick with his foot.
"If it works, it works," Marsh replied with a grin.
Ward had appeared. Ryan hadn't expected him, but the materials question was squarely in Ward's domain, and he'd apparently been sourcing samples for the team all week.
"Professor Ward pulled most of these for us," Kyle said. "The selection is incredible."
The team walked Ryan through their current thinking. The outer layer would be high-silica fabric, a material rated for sustained operation at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit with burst tolerance to 2,500. Joints and exposed components that couldn't be wrapped in fabric would use nickel-based superalloy construction. Under the thermal layer, a dedicated insulation barrier would protect the internal systems from heat transfer.
Ryan listened, asked questions, offered refinements. The design was taking shape. Not finished, not close, but the foundation was solid. These people were learning to think like mech engineers, which was the whole point.
His phone rang. Patricia.
"Your new project has a response."
Ryan stepped away from the group. "That was fast."
"You're a high-priority asset. Things move quickly when you're involved." She paused. "Come back to the office. I'll brief you."
Ryan excused himself from the workshop and walked next door.