PINEYARD,

24.

I would assume that from the contents written, your name, and age, that the email was that of a prank, and I would be so kind as to be blunt, not wasting either of our times, that it is wise to make something of yourself now, instead of never.

I hope you enjoy your time,

from my present, and your future, self.

Dr. Berger.

"Ridiculous."

It wasn't that Pineyard was pranking the old jester, it was probably because the old jester just found the hypothesis overwhelming, and then sent a reply mocking his truly.

That's why Pineyard could only utter one word. Not much else was needed.

He shut down the computer for the first time in days, and went to the kitchen to cool his head off.

To Pineyard, a paper declaring your competence wasn't needed. After all, anybody with half a brain can essentially become anything nowadays.

The internet was a godlike tool, after all, and most people don't use it correctly. Except, for Pineyard. That's why he had self-certainty that his hypothesis of "evolution of the collective intelligence" had validity to it.

But, some people are just too closed minded to try and understand unique viewpoints. Ah, Semmelweis.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He took out a hand-full of cold, refrigerated cheese cubes from a tray and carefully doused his belly full of them.

Besides, he didn't need to have another person validate his own work, much less an old coot doing it.

His brain had probably rotten from old age.

And, he achieved all the things he had now by himself, with the help of the trusty internet.

Then, all he needed to do was do it again.

Perhaps, he could write up a proposal, or a scientific essay, and have it publicized by official scientific journals.

As ideas and thoughts started to continuously pop into his mind, his "Innovation Signal" started to ring.

But, before he could start anything, for now he can have his free time.

A nice, casual surf through the internet.

----------------------------------------

Pineyard casually sipped on his cold iced-tea, leaning back against his thousand dollar ergonomic chair while zooming across countless pages a minute.

For Pineyard, these simple acts were a blessing.

He only gave himself an hour of free-time everyday, as the quote "Amateurs sit idle, while the rest get up and work." had stuck to him when he was younger.

And he was no amateur.

That's why, aside from this free hour, the rest of his time was spent working.

He ate while he worked, slept on his work, and even used the bathroom at his work.

And he was proud of it.

His eyes bolted to the corner of the screen, carefully eyeing the time.

3:45.

15 minutes left.

Perhaps, he could do a little video watching before his "shift" ends for today.

Dashing his cursor across, he opened up a new tab and clicked on one of the saved sites, and started typing.

But, mid-way through, the screen had started to glitch black, the lights flickered, and all other electrical appliances he had stuttered and made noise.

For the first time in Pineyards life, he started to panic.

What was going on? He thought. An earthquake? A Terrorist attack? Or maybe he was being hacked?

Not knowing what to do, Pineyard stood up from his chair, frozen stuck, waiting for it to end.

And then, darkness.