I’d sleep here tonight.”
“Ell!?”
“Yup, the disguise lady is pretty good, huh?”
“My God!”
The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Ell’s Mom and Jake were separated as required by North Carolina law prior to getting divorced. Ell provided emotional support wherever she could.
Ell practiced her “New York” accent until it became pretty natural and she could turn it off and on effortlessly. She practiced putting her nose prosthetic and makeup on until that became a fast, second nature task. She never again appeared as Ellen Symonds outside the house in Morehead City though.
Ell drove to Raleigh and picked up the permanent parts of her disguise from Gloria as well as documentation for “Ellen Symonds.” This included a New York birth certificate, passport, social security card, driver’s license, college transcript from UVA and faked results for the SAT. Ell was bemused to see that she was suddenly old enough to drink. Some special software was installed in her AI so that it had a divided personality, Allan for her old life and “Fred” for Ellen Symonds. Gloria had similar software on her AI allowing her to serve as “Ellen’s” widowed mother and only surviving relative should anyone try to contact “Ellen Symonds’” family.
While she was in Raleigh she interviewed at NCSU’s physics department with Dr. Al Johnson, whom Dr. Smythe had recommended her to.
“It is very late to be interviewing for a spot as a graduate assistant Ms. Symonds. If it weren’t for the good things that Dr. Smythe had to say about you we wouldn’t even be talking.”
“Yes sir. I’m sorry but I have had some traumatic events in my life that made it impossible for me to go to MIT as I had planned.” It wasn’t quite true that Ell had “planned” to go to MIT, but Dr. Smythe had actually suggested the fib to Ell as a means to cover the fact that she should have applied to NCSU long ago.
“What happened?”
“I’m sorry, I really can’t talk about it.”
“Hmmpf. That’s what Smythe said. I really don’t like taking you on without even knowing what happened to your spot at MIT.”
“I’m so sorry. If you don’t feel you can offer me a spot without the full application process, I guess I’ll just have to apply next year?”
“No, no. Smythe assures me that I’ll be sorry if I don’t take you on. I don’t know just what he sees in your record that makes him think you’re going to be some kind of superstar?”
“I’m not sure either sir. I do hope that I can live up to his, and of course, your expectations.”
“Can’t even answer that one, eh? OK, I’ll bite. I’m intrigued enough by the expectations that Smythe has, that I’ll invest some time in you. But, I warn you now, if you don’t live up to expectations you’ll get the boot so fast your head’ll spin, understood?”
“Yes sir.” Ell said quietly, not sure if she liked this guy. She wondered once again whether if she could feel safe at MIT in her new disguise? Smythe was so much nicer! Of course MIT had Dr. Ferguson who she hadn’t liked, but at least she wouldn’t have to work with him all the time.
“OK,” Johnson said, “I’ll talk to the admin secretary about getting you admitted and your AI should get something about it soon. You’ll be expected to teach one lab for my elementary physics class but, mostly you’ll be working in the research program. I certainly hope you can shine like Smythe thinks you can.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’m going to assign you some prep work. Smythe says you’re interested in that crazy paper by the gymnast, Donsaii?”
Ell felt goose bumps on her neck. “Yes sir, I’ve been quite interested.”
“Well, personally, I think it’s a load of crap. This “math” the girl invented is just bizarre. Even if she has successfully massaged it until it fits with current experimental data, the chances that it will correctly predict anything are microscopic.”
Ell’s heart
“Ell!?”
“Yup, the disguise lady is pretty good, huh?”
“My God!”
The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Ell’s Mom and Jake were separated as required by North Carolina law prior to getting divorced. Ell provided emotional support wherever she could.
Ell practiced her “New York” accent until it became pretty natural and she could turn it off and on effortlessly. She practiced putting her nose prosthetic and makeup on until that became a fast, second nature task. She never again appeared as Ellen Symonds outside the house in Morehead City though.
Ell drove to Raleigh and picked up the permanent parts of her disguise from Gloria as well as documentation for “Ellen Symonds.” This included a New York birth certificate, passport, social security card, driver’s license, college transcript from UVA and faked results for the SAT. Ell was bemused to see that she was suddenly old enough to drink. Some special software was installed in her AI so that it had a divided personality, Allan for her old life and “Fred” for Ellen Symonds. Gloria had similar software on her AI allowing her to serve as “Ellen’s” widowed mother and only surviving relative should anyone try to contact “Ellen Symonds’” family.
While she was in Raleigh she interviewed at NCSU’s physics department with Dr. Al Johnson, whom Dr. Smythe had recommended her to.
“It is very late to be interviewing for a spot as a graduate assistant Ms. Symonds. If it weren’t for the good things that Dr. Smythe had to say about you we wouldn’t even be talking.”
“Yes sir. I’m sorry but I have had some traumatic events in my life that made it impossible for me to go to MIT as I had planned.” It wasn’t quite true that Ell had “planned” to go to MIT, but Dr. Smythe had actually suggested the fib to Ell as a means to cover the fact that she should have applied to NCSU long ago.
“What happened?”
“I’m sorry, I really can’t talk about it.”
“Hmmpf. That’s what Smythe said. I really don’t like taking you on without even knowing what happened to your spot at MIT.”
“I’m so sorry. If you don’t feel you can offer me a spot without the full application process, I guess I’ll just have to apply next year?”
“No, no. Smythe assures me that I’ll be sorry if I don’t take you on. I don’t know just what he sees in your record that makes him think you’re going to be some kind of superstar?”
“I’m not sure either sir. I do hope that I can live up to his, and of course, your expectations.”
“Can’t even answer that one, eh? OK, I’ll bite. I’m intrigued enough by the expectations that Smythe has, that I’ll invest some time in you. But, I warn you now, if you don’t live up to expectations you’ll get the boot so fast your head’ll spin, understood?”
“Yes sir.” Ell said quietly, not sure if she liked this guy. She wondered once again whether if she could feel safe at MIT in her new disguise? Smythe was so much nicer! Of course MIT had Dr. Ferguson who she hadn’t liked, but at least she wouldn’t have to work with him all the time.
“OK,” Johnson said, “I’ll talk to the admin secretary about getting you admitted and your AI should get something about it soon. You’ll be expected to teach one lab for my elementary physics class but, mostly you’ll be working in the research program. I certainly hope you can shine like Smythe thinks you can.”
“Yes sir.”
“I’m going to assign you some prep work. Smythe says you’re interested in that crazy paper by the gymnast, Donsaii?”
Ell felt goose bumps on her neck. “Yes sir, I’ve been quite interested.”
“Well, personally, I think it’s a load of crap. This “math” the girl invented is just bizarre. Even if she has successfully massaged it until it fits with current experimental data, the chances that it will correctly predict anything are microscopic.”
Ell’s heart
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