Linda crossed the room and sat in the chair in front of the desk. She crossed her legs, flipped an errant lock of hair back into place, and began to speak. Levi looked at her and drank in the beauty across from him. In his dreams Linda was Aphrodite and he was Adonis but reality was different. Linda was not Aphrodite but average in every way. She was brilliant or she wouldn't be working for him, but physically not a stand-out. Average height, average weight, had an average hairstyle for her short brown hair, average round face with average brown eyes, even an average figure. She always dressed nicely and professionally but couldn't compete with the tall, gorgeous blonds that seemed to work as administrative assistants to the big shots in the company. Rank has its privilege and having gorgeous assistants seems to be one of them. Linda was not tall and she was not gorgeous but in Levi's mind she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
"Sir, I have the latest test results of Biomechanical Operational Technician symbiont design 16. In short, everything went exactly as you predicted. BOT-16 moved from one location to another without harming the subject, all under external telemetric control. Once in place we were able to send it new instructions and it carved up the tumor until there was no trace of the tumor left. When it shut down again we sent it another set of instructions and it exited the body at exactly the same location as it went in. The whole operation took less than two hours from entry to retrieval. This was the first of 24 planned trials for BOT-16 but if all the others work as well as this one then I think we've got a successful programmable symbiotic surgical microbot. By the way, one of the technicians nicknamed BOT-16 'Lil Doc' and it seems to have stuck."
Levi listened politely but knew exactly what she was going to say before she said it. He created symbiont design 16, or BOT-16 as it was called, and maybe in the future marketed as Lil Doc, so he knew without a doubt that it was going to work exactly as planned. Princemont had to jump through hoops because of FDA requirements for testing of invasive medical technologies and BOT-16 was such a major advancement in microbot technology that the bureaucrats in Washington couldn't begin to understand anything about it. Stupidity bothered Levi. Ignorance bothered Levi. The people that held sway over his work couldn't even grasp the fundamentals, like a nanobot is the size of a single cell and does one and only task where a microbot can be as large as a hundred or more cells and can do things that a nanobot can't, like maneuver, have embedded programming, and work independently. But he would put up with any amount of nonsense just so he could listen to Linda talk.
Linda sat back and smiled knowing that he would be pleased with the report. Everybody knew that he didn't smile very often but it seemed to her that whenever she met with him he would find something to smile about. It was a quirky little smile, crooked and stiff, but a smile nonetheless. She thought it was cute. And as she watched the quirky little smile appeared.
"That's great news!" Levi said with as much enthusiasm as he usually gets – not very much. "Please forward the full report to me when it's complete. And you can tell the entire team 'good work' for me."
"Thank you, I'll let everybody know," she said with her own smile. Hers wasn't quirky, it was beautiful to Levi.
"You know, this is something to celebrate," Levi interjected. "Maybe you can think of something to do for the team. I'm not good at that sort of thing; maybe you can do it for me."
"Yes sir I will."
Nervously Levi said, "And, as head of the implementation team I would like to thank you in some way myself. Would it be appropriate to ask you out for dinner, as my way of a personal thank you?"
Her smile disappeared and her brow wrinkled. She looked down at her hands for a few seconds and then back up to Levi before speaking. "I don't think I can do that, sir. You see, I have a boyfriend. His name is Jason. I like him a lot and don't want to do anything that could cause problems between us. He had a bad experience with a previous girlfriend so he gets a little, uh, jealous, no crazy is a better word, whenever I'm around other men. Thank you for the invitation though, but I have to decline."
Levi sat quietly, thinking. This was the first time in his life he had dredged up enough courage to ask someone out. Rejection was something he didn't understand, but he knew that right after she said 'no' something inside broke. He was going to have to think about what he just felt and if he could do anything about it.
"No, I understand Dr. Channing," Levi said sheepishly, looking around for somewhere to hide. "I shouldn't have been so forward. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Just let the team know how pleased I am."
They both sat there looking at one another not knowing what to do. Finally Linda got up and walked out, quietly closing the door as she left. Levi sat staring at the chair where she just sat. It was empty and so was something inside him. All of this was new to him and was going to take some time to process.
********
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Psychological Profile
Subject: Levi Howard Stussman
Task Force: 21-670
July 9, 2021
Author: Sharon Dunning, Psychologist
Psychological Profile:
Subject Levi Stussman exhibits many variant psychological facets. On one hand he has an incredible intellect and has the ability to learn any new topic in a fraction of the time of the average person. He has a proven and documented eidetic memory that has allowed him to learn and utilize 14 foreign languages (including Swahili), read text at a rate five times that of the average speed reader, and has a proven visual catalog of tens of thousands musical scripts and art works in his head. He truly has a beautiful mind.
However, the intellectual side of Dr. Stussman greatly overshadows the personality side. For example, he still lives in the same house and same bedroom where he grew up even after the death of his mother. He has never been on a date. His interpersonal actions with subordinates and colleagues are short, clumsy, and sometimes childish. The fact that he has an extensive toy collection speaks to the fact that he is still making up for his abnormal childhood. There are no personal items in his office nor are there any personal photographs in his wallet. He seems to be more comfortable around technology than people.
Dr. Stussman has a twin sister Alexandra. She is not the genius that he is. She had a normal childhood and education and now works as a third grade teacher in Tel Aviv, Israel. She only communicates with Dr. Stussman on birthdays and holidays. As far as it can be ascertained, Dr. Stussman has never met his sister's daughter Natasha. Brother and sister's relationship seems strained but there is no evidence of problematic events or dislike between the two. From all appearances, Dr. Stussman doesn't care about family.
Dr. Stussman projects an aura of self-confidence that is often mistaken for arrogance. The source of this self-confidence is the specialized knowledge systems that he started building at an early age. He is considered the foremost expert in several fields and when asked can lecture for hours on any one of them. He will immediately tell anyone that asks an answer to their question or a solution to their problem and invariably is correct. Dr. Stussman is a perfectionist. He has the capacity to improve upon anything that piques his interest. He is also pragmatic to a fault. He will always ask himself the question 'Does it work?' If it does, he tries to work on making whatever it is simpler or better. If it doesn't, he simply moves on. This ability offers him independence of mind thus freeing him from the constraints of authority, convention, and emotions. Above all he enjoys developing unique solutions to complex problems.
Dr. Stussman is the quintessential researcher because he possesses imagination and reliability. He is relentless in his pursuit of a solution and dogged in his determination and work ethic. He does not respect any co-worker he perceives as a 'slacker' or 'inferior', including supervisors. He says what he thinks and often ignores or disrespects the feelings of others. He also has a tendency to implement critical decisions without consulting supervisors or co-workers. For all his interpersonal work relation problems he is even-handed in recognizing individual contributions of others.
Dr. Stussman's personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, are a problem for him. He is capable of deeply caring for others (usually a select few) but is not willing to spend time developing a relationship. The strengths exhibited in his intellect and work ethic often abandon him when it comes to interpersonal relationships. He does not understand social rituals, humor, and flirtation. Above all Dr. Stussman is a deeply private person and does not or can not allow anybody into what he considers his personal space. Possibly the most basic problem is that Dr. Stussman wants everybody around him to make sense to him. Unless someone thinks and acts like he does he cannot understand them and will tend to shun them.
However, the strongest asset he brings to any interpersonal relationships is his intuitive nature and a willingness to try to understand the other person. He uses this intuitive nature and a strong logical mind to try to dissect an individual and break them into smaller components that he can deal with. Should he ever get involved in a long-term relationship with someone their bond will be robust, stable, and have excellent communications.
Conclusion:
Dr. Stussman is a strong intellect but exhibits a fragile emotional state. He has difficulty accepting authority and relationships with others. As a problem solver there are none better. As a manager he will usually allow others to manage themselves. As a friend or a lover he is a child in a man's body.
End of report, 7/9/2021, S. Dunning (#00726), recorded on MS-WordVoice v.9.26, task force Id. 21-670, archive AS-21-00100191.
********
Levi sat at his kitchen table having completed assembling the model battleship Bismarck thinking about the conversation with Linda today. He still felt the pain of being rejected but understood her logic for doing so. Understanding didn't stop him from feeling sorry for himself.
"It just isn't fair. Some other man gets to enjoy her whenever he wants and I don't even get a hello in the morning. It's as though I don't exist, I'm invisible. I don't know her boyfriend but I'll bet he's handsome and worldly and refined, all the things I'm not. All I've got to offer is my intellect."
Levi rested his head on his arms crossed on the table and thought about possible solutions. He enjoyed nothing more in life than coming up with an answer to a problem that everyone else thought impossible. This was a difficult problem but so was non-invasive surgery using microbots. He solved that one so this one has to have a solution too. Only what was it? The more he thought the more tired he became. Before long his head was nestled among the plastic ship parts on the table, fast asleep.
