Greg hurried to finish locking up the house, glancing over his shoulder at Mary who was already in the car. She rolled down the window and called out, "Hurry up, we are going to be late!"
"All right, all right, calm down, I'm coming," Greg replied, jogging to the car. As he settled into the driver’s seat, he looked over at Mary and said, "It's still a bit funny to me that you're about to introduce the greatest innovation this side of the internet, and you still need your big brother to drive you to the science fair."
Mary punched him playfully in the arm. "Stop it, you already know I'm nervous. Hold off on your usual teasing at least until this is over."
Greg made a playful scoffing noise. Mary, looking a bit ill, muttered, "Greg, seriously, I feel like I am going to throw up already as it is."
As they drove away, the weight of what Mary was about to unveil sat like a heavy fog in both of their minds. Neither reached for the stereo nor spoke until they arrived at the World Science Fair.
Mary, feeling like a ten-year-old little girl again, put her hand into his and whispered, "Please, just until we are inside."
Greg looked back, only partially aware of what was swimming in her mind, and with strong, confident eyes said, "Of course."
The fair was abuzz with sights, smells, and sounds of thousands of people hustling about, preparing their presentations for Friday's big opening. To make matters worse, Mary had won the honor of presenting first, no matter how badly she wished she had not. She was determined not to let anything stop her from getting on that stage, sharing her story, and introducing the world to Eon, her fully aware robotic life form and Gregs accompanying work with the self-assembling, self-replicating programmable metallic alloy. Of course all of this was under the easier to sell, less controversial topic of street intersection safety and the cover of a new type of ant-farm simulation.
Just two weeks ago, Mary had no large display, no vinyl backdrop, and no big company backing her. Heck, she didn’t even have a PowerPoint presentation. She was just going to tell part of the truth, share her idea, and demonstrate her results.
By 7:30, Mary was fast asleep in the bed next to Greg’s, and finally, he could relax. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of guardianship over her since their parents had died the way they had when she was at such a critical age. At 90 lbs wet and barely 5’1”, she didn’t look her age, even though she was the smartest, kindest, and most responsible person he knew of in life or in fiction. She seemed almost fragile lying there with the day melted away.
With the tension of the day and the weight of Friday all holding his body in a state of hyper-alertness, Greg cleared the center of the hotel room and began to move into the breathing, hand postures, and body movements of Kraz Un Bakour. This was a warrior's dance his father had taught him at a young age to ensure the body was always able to function at its peak. After almost 30 minutes of spin kicks, arm locks, and strange poses, he took a quick shower and hit the bed, 110% less tense than he had been a short while ago.
The night was quiet. Greg lay there, staring at the ceiling, reviewing the up and coming presentation in his mind. He could hear the soft, rhythmic breathing of Mary beside him, a comforting reminder of why they were here. He thought about their journey, the countless hours spent in the lab, the sacrifices they had made. It all led to this moment.
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As the first light of dawn began to filter through the curtains, Greg finally drifted off to sleep. When his eyes opened again, the room was bathed in the soft glow of morning. He could see Mary sitting outside on the balcony, watching the sun come up. She liked talking to the memories of her mom and dad, as was her way. At first, it worried him how close she seemed to remain to them after they passed. He could see how it helped her, and one time after accidentally overhearing her talking to them, it was clear she knew they were gone. She appeared to be using this time and process much the same way he clung to Kraz Un Bakour. After she spent time with them, you could see her life force was raised; he could tell it was having a positive effect and served her in positive ways.
This morning, he decided he would join her. As Greg sat down beside Mary, she looked at him and smiled reassuringly. “One more day, big brother, there is no turning back after that.”
She meant to continue, but Greg interrupted her, “Yes, this is your day. You are ready, and ready or not, world, here you come.”
Mary snapped back, “Greg, not me, we. Without your work on the nanomaterials, I wouldn’t have more than another fancy chess-playing bit of code. Not to mention, well, just, we, always we. Promise me, always, we.”
Greg just rolled his eyes at her but did allow his smile to betray him, to provide her that assurance she was looking for without letting things get sappy.
As they walked down the stairs, the sheer scale of what they were a part of caused them both to pause. Mary leaned in close to Greg, a position she held for the next 30 minutes, all through registration, booth assignments, and the presenters' debrief. Moving to the space they were assigned, it was clear that after today, the world would definitely know. Mary saw how they were front and center through the skyway entrance and ran for the nearest bathroom. Not even slowing for the Boys sign, she ran in and relieved the contents of her stomach into the nearest stall.
The whole ordeal, including her washing up and splashing cold water on her face, only lasted a few moments. Thank goodness the error of using the Men’s room went unnoticed by Mary; she might have just died right there had she learned of it at the wrong time. An overly beautiful wooden crate sat in the center of a great booth and exhibition already adorned with vinyl banners, a skirted table, and a stocked mini-fridge. All perks of winning the contest and a consolation for being the first presenter.
Greg had pulled the slats off the crate and was setting up its contents by the time she had returned. He gave her a reassuring glance, and as was true to her nature, she would push ahead, putting on a big show to the rest of the world—a show her brother could always see right through. They both were aware of this fact, so they made no attempt at a fa?ade. Greg had been a pivotal part of her life and had the benefit of seeing her go through the endless loop of self-torture 100 times before, and she had never broken despite her fragile presence.
Had it not been for the contest, they would be setting up two 32” flat screen monitors to loop an early demo of their project and some black-and-white half-page flyers. As it was, they were setting up eight 64” ultra-glass panels and had enough new equipment to run a full install of Eon and a real-to-life 14’ ant farm made of twin glass panels with 16 ounces of Eon Nano particles in the thin space between them. They only had the equipment for two weeks prior to the show, but every part of the display came together like clockwork and turned out, luckily, to be about the cleverest and most ideal setup and configuration they could have ever dreamed up.
Of some unease was the fact they hadn’t thought it up. One of the execs at the contest had some experience in this area and suggested the whole configuration after a short conversation about what they had created. Unpacked and standing back, taking it all in, really took your breath away. This was especially true if you were a small-town, even smaller potatoes girl like Mary and to a lesser degree Greg. You wouldn’t know that by the current look on his face and the tears of joy and pride that appeared and were quickly pushed away, but she noticed, and she joined him.
Strangely, no one from the contest had come by, nor did they know of any appointments coming up. Feeling assured that security was adequate, they brought Eon online and the two set out for lunch.
