HYPERGENIUS

-Chapter 6: Sunday Morning Chat-

Like Cheviot, Ned Grossberg had always hoped that little Bryce Jr would eventually come to work for him. He had, after all, been her mother's employer. And as far as he knew, she would one day go to ACS, just as her parents had.

It had been he who had talked Sydney Harding into leaving ACS and getting a job at the primary school where he had learned the child would be attending in order to keep an eye on her and find out how strong her computer and other tech skills were.

"So, what's she like?" Grossberg asked Harding as the two men sat in Grossberg's kitchen on a Sunday morning with two cups of coffee the Network 66 Chairman had brewed. "As brilliant as her parents, I bet."

"She has great talent," Harding said, his tone conversational. "Unfortunately not in the area of expertise you were hoping for."

"What do you mean?" Grossberg asked.

"Bryce Lynch Jr is a musical prodigy. She has a lot of talent with computers, also. But she seems more interested in music keyboards than those that are linked to computers. You might be able to get her to sign on as a performer one day. But I'm afraid she'll never be your head of Research and Development."

"Ah, well," Grossberg shrugged after a moment's thought. "At least she won't be Cheviot's either. Now I've just got to figure out how to get her to sign on as a performer when the time comes."

"In my opinion, I say sign her up now. Cute child singers are very popular entertainers. And Bryce Jr has one of the best voices I've ever heard. Especially for a five year old. Though she honestly sings better than many of the adults I've heard. I was passing her music class on Friday and they were doing songs by an old group called the Beatniks or Beatoes or something…"

"The Beatles," Grossberg said, smiling a litle. "My mother had a couple of their albums. Which song was she singing?"

"Something about 'the farther one travels'." Harding said, straining to recall the lyrics he'd heard."

Grossberg also took a moment to try and remember. It was one of the more obscure tunes by his late mother's favorite group. As he thought about it, he remembered her singing it to him once when he'd been in bed sick and couldn't sleep.

"It's called the Inner Light," he finally said. "Nice song. But it's a bit obscure. I wonder why they picked that one and not Yellow Submarine. That was always a kids' favorite when I was in school."

"I'll try to persuade the music teacher to lean on her to join the talent show next month," Harding decided. "That way you can observe her for yourself. It's open to the public. That's one of the ways the school makes money to spend on lunches and their playground equipment."

"Isn't that risky?" Grossberg asked.

"If you were a child-stealing pervert would you try to take a child from a school full of overprotective and watchful parents?" Harding asked. "Only a fool would try something that insane. And he wouldn't live long if he did. They're also smart enough to require everyone sign in and present a photo ID which is logged in along with the name."

"Her 'Uncle' Murray will no doubt also be there," Grossberg realized. "Along with Edison Carter and the rest of her late father's old pals. Won't they be suspicious?"

"You were her mother's employer," Harding reminded him. "So you have just as much right to watch her as they do. You'll just have to politely remind them of that fact if they give you any trouble."

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