Location: Campus Research Building, Lab B-02
Elian stood in front of Jenna's office, clutching a flash drive like it held the fate of the world.
Which, weirdly, it kind of did.
He'd paced the hallway so many times the janitor thought he was inspecting the tile grout. But this was the moment. He couldn't delay it anymore.
He knocked.
Jenna looked up from her screen, brows lifting. "Elian. You look like you've either discovered a wormhole or murdered someone."
"Neither. But… close."
He hesitated, glancing around the hallway like someone checking for wiretaps. Then he stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him with a soft click.
Jenna narrowed her eyes. "You kidnapped someone?"
Elian held up his hands defensively. "Nooo, look who you're talking to."
She squinted, then snorted. "Yeah, that's true. You can't even kill a cockroach."
He shuddered. "I'm telling you, those things are aliens. Their eyes? Soulless."
She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. "Whatever you say, bug whisperer."
He began to pace. "Then did you discover a portal?" she asked, half teasing.
"No," he said, turning to face her. His voice lowered. "Just… listen to me. And I need you to promise not to laugh or call security."
Jenna tilted her head, arching an eyebrow. "That's not exactly reassuring," she said slowly, leaning back again, now more curious than skeptical. "Go on."
He sat across from her, heart pounding. "Jenna, I've had a breakthrough. Two, actually. One is a room-temperature superconductor. The other is a new type of nano-layered graphene capacitor — insanely efficient."
Her eyebrows rose. "Okay. That's… wow. Do you have proof?"
"Yes," he said quickly, pulling out the flash drive. "Lab data, lattice models, test results — all of it."
She reached for the drive slowly. "This isn't some prank, is it? Because if it is, you owe me like twelve coffees."
"No prank," he said. Then paused. "But… I didn't come up with all of it on my own."
Jenna narrowed her eyes. "Meaning?"
He hesitated. Then exhaled. "There's something… in my head. A system. Like a weird shop interface that uploads theories directly into my brain. I get knowledge. I build stuff. Then it rewards me with optimized blueprints."
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Elian," she said cautiously, "are you… okay? Have you slept recently? Eaten? You sound like one of your sci-fi monologues after three espressos."
"I know how it sounds. Believe me. But I've tested the theories. They work. I built them myself. The results are real."
She stared at him, lips pressed tight. "You really expect me to believe an invisible theory-AI is feeding you tech from the void?"
He didn't answer immediately. Just pulled a small sample case from his bag and handed it to her.
Inside was the thin superconducting film.
She flipped open the case, her expression shifting from doubt to scientific curiosity. "This is the sample?"
He nodded.
"Have you run resistance tests?"
"Zero. At room temperature. No cryogenics."
"Holy…" She trailed off, then suddenly looked up. "This can't be faked. If you're telling the truth, this is Nobel-level material."
"I am telling the truth."
Silence stretched between them again.
Then Jenna let out a slow breath. "Okay. Let's say I believe you — partially. Why are you telling me now?"
"Because I need your help," he admitted. "I suck at the boring adult stuff. Funding. Patent registration. Publishing papers. Media handling. Logistics. I can invent this stuff — but scaling it? Protecting it legally? Monetizing it ethically? That's not my world."
She was quiet for a moment. Then smirked. "So… you've got alien Google in your head and still need help filing paperwork."
"Exactly."
She shook her head, half laughing. "Well, at least some things never change."
Jenna leaned back, folding her arms, thoughtful now. "You really want to register patents? Publish this?"
"I have to," Elian said. "If I don't, someone else will stumble onto it, or worse — the wrong people might. We need control. But more than that... I need funding. The next projects are going to require facilities, staff, equipment — and I can't just keep hiding this in a university lab."
She raised an eyebrow. "Next projects?"
Elian grinned faintly. "Think fusion. Think advanced neural interfaces. Think rewriting the future."
Jenna stared at him for a moment longer, then said, "Alright. I'm in."
He blinked. "Really?"
"But," she added firmly, "I want full transparency. I want access to all your research files. And if I catch you going off the deep end, I pull the plug. Deal?"
"Deal."
"And," she added, "you're explaining everything to me in plain English. None of your spooky 'lattice coupling phase harmonics' mumbo jumbo."
"I make no promises."
She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. This is going to be hell."
"Welcome to the future," Elian said.
She grinned. "Alright, Dr. Mad Genius. Let's go figure out how to patent the impossible."