Realistic or Modern Penelope and John

[CoolGuy]

For some reason, John felt like there were hijinks going on across the phone line. As if Penelope were being tortured but couldn't say anything. He leaned on his wall, and then stood up straight again. A few moments had passed and he hadn't said anything. He coughed, and thought of what to say.

"Yes! I did. I was interested in that. If you're offering, I'd be glad to come over. I've read a few pages of my high school biology textbook, before deciding I needed something even below that. Then, I looked up middle school biology textbooks, which was more my speed." He wanted to confirm that she didn't lie about being the creator of the cure. Technically, even this couldn't prove it, but he'd say it was beyond a reasonable doubt, in the wise words of the American court system.

"Where do-" wait a minute. Her phone number had a 206 area code. She lived in the same city as him. That's the entire reason he picked up the phone. "-uh, where do you live?" he asked anyway. He'd seem creepy if he knew that. "I just need to know if I'll have to book another flight," he said, even though he knew he wouldn't. Unless she were doing something strange and techy he could never hope to understand.

 

[Genjiomnom]

The shared area code wasn't lost to Penelope. She replied, We share an area code, so I assume we're within the same area. If you need a flight though, I'll provide plane tickets, hotel rooms and anything else you need. You'll be meeting me at the warehouse on Smith Blvd. Penelope wasn't opposed to giving out her address, she had her own hand made security system. She simply figured this was the most convenient way to go about things.

Penelope would give out directions and times and whatever else was needed. The meeting would be in two days. She had a website set up, maintained by Mirai, to get in contact with cancer patients. Penelope provided plane tickets, hotel rooms, transportation and anything else they might need, as well as the free cure.

The warehouse was large, at least compared to the buildings around it. Though it wasn't at an industrial scale. It was almost like a large hangar, with massive, powered sliding doors. They were open, revealing the inside. There were dozens of stations with medical professionals trained to give the cure, which was in the form of a shot. Busses traveled between the warehouse and nearby hotels, which were booked full, pleasing the hotel owners. The lines of people weren't too long, since preliminary information was figured out before hand. There were a few stations to the side for blood tests and such for patients that don't have updated medical records, or any at all.

Penelope stood near the edge of the massive open doors, too worried about walking among the crowd. She would interact between people through an intermediary that could be seen speed walking about, generally chatting away on a walkie talkie. Anyone who saw Penelope tended to stare at her bizarre wardrobe choice. She tried not to return the stares to keep her embarrassment under control. The warehouse of course can operate without Penelope, but she was there waiting for John. Mindy insisted on waiting at the parking lot for him, where a shuttle would bring them to the doors.

 

[CoolGuy]

He guessed she wanted to keep her privacy. Well, he didn't blame her. It's not like he thought she was going to kidnap him and harvest his organs. He made a quick call to tell a friend where he was going, in case Penelope planned on kidnapping him and harvesting his organs. But that was a backup plan! Leviathan was still laying face down on his couch, so he put it back on his bookshelf, and exited his home, since apparently Penelope didn't like scheduling things for the future.

Many people, after getting the fortune he had, would have bought a new car. Not so with John. Granted, that was mainly because he knew nothing about cars, but the point remains. He got into his crappy- err, economic- car, and drove to the warehouse she apparently owned.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, John felt that he didn't need any precautions against being kidnapped. The parking lot was chock full of cars. That indicated to him that this was legit. He pulled into a random spot and exited his car.

There was a young blonde woman standing on the edge of the lot. Normally he wouldn't notice her, but she seemed to be expecting him to walk toward her. With no reason not to, he did.

"Hey," he said, once he got to her. "What are you doing here?" For all he knew, he was presuming she was here for him, so he gave her an open ended question.

 

[Genjiomnom]

Mindy waved excitedly, welcoming John. Hello Mr. John! I'm Mindy, one of Penelope's medical helpers. Mindy was the type that tried to seem professional, but ended up being too casual anyways. She was still good at her job though.

Mindy guided John to a small tram and invited him to the passenger seat. The drive was only a couple of minutes away. Mindy chattered the whole time. She would talk about how awesome what Penelope was doing, how she loved her job, along with any small talk she could manage. Are you excited for the cure? Did you knows it's completely free? Is it true you have your own religion? What kind of fabric is that? Did you know some deep sea fish have their own lights? She asked many random things, not all of which she gave time for John to answer as she just kept on going.

They reached the large doors, Mindy pulled right up to the building, near Penelope. Penelope was in her usual stance, her arms by her side, but careful not to touch herself. She had a man next to her, ready to take over the cart. As Mindy pulled up she would shout excitedly, We're here Ms. Penelope! Penelope would slightly bow her head, giving a simple Hello John. as she waited for them to step out.

Penelope had Gerard nearby to usher people away. Many people, a lot of them in groups of friends and family, wanted to thank her. Many people waved and said words of gratitude as they walked by from a distance, being whisked away back to their hotel room. Carts were coming and leaving, and people were guided to empty stations and treated. The warehouse was large and open, giving off an echoing sound as people chatted inside.

 

[CoolGuy]

John wasn't sure if Mindy was an intern or a very young looking employee. Whichever one it was, she acted adorable. For the entire ride over, John had been struggling to keep up with her conversational pace. After a few minutes of striving to answer, he gave up trying, and she didn't seem to notice. He hoped she didn't say anything important, because he had tuned out her voice as if it were white noise.

They arrived, after a few moments, at some very, very large doors. Penelope stood still, to the side of one of the doors. Mindy shouted a greeting from the tram, and Penelope greeted him. Mindy and he got out of the tram to meet with her. He noticed Jerry kept most people away. To stop a particularly thankful guest from injuring her, he guessed.

"Hey there," he said. He couldn't think of anything to say. He was still in awe of the fact that this warehouse was full of people that had cancer and were getting it removed. He was fortunate enough to never know anyone that had cancer, but he could still feel amazed at all this. He wasn't sure if he was more impressed with the fact that this was free, or the fact that she did this in a week. "Thanks for letting me see all this. This is a pretty impressive thing to do."

 

[Genjiomnom]

Penelope gave a surprisingly expressive smile at John's compliment. No problem at all. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would do the same thing if they could. She waved her hand, motioning to all the people. I'm not an evil person, or corporation. I'm simply misunderstood, and this is hopefully a gesture that will help show this. She then went on to explain, much like Mindy already touched on, that everything was free. The travel expenses as well as the cure, and that she had sole rights to this one.

Penelope explained this in a saddened tone, not wanting John, or anyone else to think less of her due to misconceptions. She didn't need people to think highly of her, but it pushes people away from the things she plans on creating. She called for Gerard, saying to John, Gerard here can give you a tour. You can talk to everyone and see how things are done, if you'd like? I'll stay here though, crowds aren't particularly my thing. Penelope looked down at herself as a reminder of her disease, if her clothing weren't clear enough.

 

[CoolGuy]

He made a mental note that this was Gerard, not Jerry. Close enough, in his opinion, but most people got upset if you used the wrong name in reference to them. John felt a little bad for Penelope. All she seemed to want was to help people, and she got little but scorn in return. "Ah, sure, I suppose." He was kind of expecting to receive a direct tour, but in hindsight, that was a bit self obsessed.

He looked at Gerard, only a few feet away. At this distance, talking would be a little cumbersome, but it wouldn't be too hard. The only thing that really stuck out about him was his size. John was fairly tall, but Gerard was about a head taller, and a body thicker. Tearing his gaze from Penelope, he stepped over to Gerard. "I've been told you're my guide for today," he said.

 

[Genjiomnom]

Mindy would take over guard duty as Gerard lead John away. Gerard would talk about the simplicity of the stations, how they carried first aid supplies in addition to the cure, just in case. He explained the stations to the side, which took blood tests for those without complete medical records. He even gave an explanation of the cure, to his own understanding. The cure is actually a poison. The main ingredianet is fatal to people, as well as cancerous cells. But there's other chemicals that protect the body and guide the poison to the cancer.

Gerard is a friendly person, he just takes his job seriously, because he knows it could cost someone their life if he doesn't. On their way back, after hearing the opinions of the patients and medical staff alike, Gerard said to John, Penny doesn't like to talk about it, but she's the smartest person on the planet, you should see some of the stuff she does, it's incredible. This was all in small talk as they were approaching Penelope.

 

[CoolGuy]

John was somewhat surprised by Gerard's amicable attitude. While he was sure he was a completely different person with the ones he loved, he thought Gerard would be completely professional when on the job. He wasn't sure why; Gerard just seemed like that kind of person. "More incredible than creating a cure for cancer?" he asked. "I think I've seen the most incredible thing she's done so far. Of course, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong." It'd be cool if he was wrong, but he doubted it.

Before Gerard had a chance to correct him, they reached Penelope. He gave her a wave when they were close to her. He looked at her with a smile. "This is amazing." Though he felt like he was just repeating the same words over and over again, he felt like he wasn't being overly aggrandizing in this case. He really thought she was amazing. There was no excuse for them to meet again, so he felt the need to keep talking until they did. "So, what's next for the 'smartest person on the planet'?" he asked.

 

[Genjiomnom]

Penelope was unphased at the compliment. She didn't care much to have people fawn over her intelligence. Though others seemed to like it, so she let it slide. HIV and AIDS will be next, followed by all the other diseases of the world.

Penelope was in her usual nonchalant stance. She wasn't sure what else John wanted, or even why he's so interested in the work she does. Her explanations would be too boring for anyone not interested in the science behind it to listen to, if they could even understand it. From what Penelope understood, John was an ethicist, not a scientist. So she just waited to hear what John had to say, smiling at the occasional passerby.

 

[CoolGuy]

HIV and AIDS followed by everything. What a nondescript plan. John found that he struggled to continue his conversations with Penelope. She spoke as if every sentence were the last. Nonetheless, he endeavored to continue this conversation. Especially given that he didn't want this to be a completely wasted hour. Maybe it was a sunk cost fallacy, but he didn't care.

He put his hands in his pockets. "High ambitions, I see." He wouldn't call it hopes, if she did cure cancer in a week. But even if she was as smart as she claimed, curing every disease would be impossible. Unless she meant she was going to keep curing diseases. She knew better than he, though. "How are you going to get all the money for this, if you're giving the cures away for free?" he asked. He admired her for not gouging cancer patients, but money didn't come out of nowhere.

 

[Genjiomnom]

Penelope didn't think it was very ambitious. It wasn't a particularly difficult thing for her to do, she just needed to figure out a little bit more than what the world already knows about these diseases. She just wanted to help people. She looked up at the mention of money. Well, I use the stock market. It's not too difficult, just an equation with complex variables.

Mindy chirped, That also pays our paychecks! Penelope gave Mindy a look, What? It does. It pays everyone here! Mindy looked at John, with a big grin, She's a nice lady. Penelope looked back to John, her eyes now wandering to the ground as she started playing with her hands, a very slight blush coming to her face.

 

[CoolGuy]

John wondered if Penelope's blush was because of prolonged contact with a stranger or because Mindy complimented her. She must value praise on kindness a lot more than praise on her intelligence, if the latter was the case. If he were the smartest person in the world, he would have loved hearing compliments on his intelligence. Of course, that was just because he was a chronic narcissist. "I'm sure she is," he said to Mindy.

"So," he began, slowly, trying to think of what to say next to forward their conversation, "what do you do for fun?" In his mind, he screamed. Somewhere along the way out of his mind, his brain twisted his words. He meant to... he didn't know what he meant to do, but he meant to do something a little less personal. After a moment of shock at himself, he decided to roll with it. "Uh, let me guess: you read?"