The first-floor lobby where the press conference was to be held was already packed with reporters.
Click!
Click!
As if proving how much attention it had drawn, dozens of cameras were constantly bursting with flashes.
Mayor John stood at the podium, his face flushed, before the microphone. Behind him, Seoha and the members of Team Apex took their places.
“Respected citizens of New York, today we have opened a new chapter in human history.”
His voice traveled through the speakers and rang throughout the hall. With his characteristic exaggeration and political rhetoric, he passionately proclaimed what he had witnessed in the control room.
How the congestion on Seventh Avenue had been cleared, how an accident had been predicted three minutes in advance, and even how the interchange in the slums had opened as if by a miracle.
“Wow!”
“Jesus Christ!”
Like the officials who had been in the control room, the reporters gasped in astonishment and let out exclamations.
Satisfied by their reaction, John clenched his fist and shouted.
“Everyone! You may take pride in this.
New York now possesses the most advanced traffic system in the world. Oracle will value every minute and every second of all its citizens, without racial prejudice or interests tied to wealth.
Rejoice. At last, we have been freed from the torture of chronic congestion!”
The reporters’ hands moved busily.
Breaking news began appearing on TV and the internet. Social media was already being plastered with the keyword Oracle.
“This miracle began in the imagination of a mathematician.
If not for the devotion of the young and great geniuses standing behind me now, Oracle would never have come into the world. Allow me to introduce Yu Seoha, the leader of Team Apex, who designed the brain of this entire system.”
Dozens of cameras turned toward Seoha all at once.
With an innocent face befitting a sixteen-year-old boy and eyes whose depth could not be fathomed, Seoha stepped forward with an indifferent expression.
“Say a few words, if you would.”
John lightly patted Seoha on the back and handed him the microphone.
Seoha frowned for a moment at the barrage of camera flashes pouring down on him, then soon began speaking in a calm voice.
“First, I’d like to introduce my team members. Oracle wasn’t something I made alone. Theo, Sri, Sujeong! Please come forward.”
The three of them stepped out stiffly and stood in the spotlight.
Seoha called their names one by one.
“Theodore Lanford, who devised the core compression theory for information processing; Srinivasa Krishnan, who brilliantly bridged the gap between mathematics and engineering; and Sujeong Lim, who designed Oracle’s sophisticated causal analysis algorithm. Beyond them, there were also the dedicated efforts of countless researchers.”
Seoha met the eyes of each of his teammates, then looked at the reporters.
“People say Oracle sees the future. But a machine is only a machine. It is an AI that connects countless signals we have overlooked until now and derives mathematically valid conclusions.
Mathematics and technology coming together to enrich humanity—that was the hope with which we created Oracle.
If that wish comes true, then as its designer, I could ask for nothing more.”
Clap, clap, clap!
A gentle wave of applause rose among the reporters.
When the question-and-answer session began, dozens of reporters raised their hands all at once.
“New York Times. Seoha, is there no possibility that the system you just described could be converted for crime prevention or surveillance purposes? There is great concern among citizens about violations of privacy.”
It was already something disclosed in the bill, but people did not believe it.
They thought there was no way an agency would not make use of such an efficient and outstanding surveillance tool.
Ever since it had been exposed that the CIA had illegally monitored civilians, public trust in the government had hit rock bottom.
“Oracle anonymizes all the information it collects. That is an irreversible characteristic that cannot be changed even by the authority of the mayor or the city council. Even if the president of the United States personally ordered it, it could not be undone.
A politician’s promises can be broken, but mathematics does not change. You may trust it. Not me, but mathematics.”
At Seoha’s firm answer, the murmurs in the hall subsided.
The questions that followed focused mainly on Oracle’s technical aspects. Seoha handed the microphone to his teammates at appropriate moments and had them answer.
The next morning, the headlines of every daily newspaper were plastered with a single piece of news.
[There Is No Big Brother. What Does Oracle Collect and Analyze?]
[A Bus Arrives on Time, Citizens Say “It’s Like Magic.”]
[The Prophet of the 21st Century, $12 Billion in Economic Value from Just One Year of Operation]
[Is John Carson’s Next Step the White House?]
[Yu Seoha, the Modern Messiah]
[“Trust Mathematics, Not Me.”]
The words uttered by the sixteen-year-old boy soon became the hottest catchphrase in New York.
On social media, videos people had filmed themselves on their morning commute were uploaded one after another, and people shared that mysterious experience as they became immersed in a festive mood.
└I never thought I’d live to see the day I passed through Seventh Avenue without hitting the brakes once.
└I’ve been driving a yellow cab for over twenty years, but I’ve never seen a day like this. I got through the Lincoln Tunnel in five minutes. If the Oracle developers ever take a taxi in New York, make sure you tell me! I’ll give you a ride for free.
└They say it’s code even the CIA can’t crack, right? The line about trusting mathematics sounded so reliable. I was moved when my son said he wanted to study math too.
└They’re keeping the congestion tax as is ㅠㅠ If more cars appear, this comfort we have now will disappear too.
A few days later, when statistics were released showing that the overall travel speed of vehicles in New York City had increased by 42% compared to the previous year, reactions began pouring in from overseas as well.
In particular, the reaction from Korea, which had lacked achievements in basic academic fields, was fierce.
[K-Geniuses Who Succeeded in a $10 Billion Project]
└That elementary school kid from Okcheon has already grown up this much.
└Aren’t they the IMO gold medal duo?
└They’re seniors from my school lololol Our principal says every day that we’re going to become a world-famous prestigious high school soon lolol
└What is the government doing? Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, hurry up and bring Yu Seoha here. Let’s clear up Olympic-daero.
└Seoul won’t be easy either. Is there ever a day it doesn’t get clogged?
└If only Olympic-daero and Gangbyeonbuk-ro got cleared, quality of life would shoot way up.
└When they return to Korea, give each of them an apartment and keep them here. I’d approve of using tax money for this. They’ll create a lot of jobs.
└How did kids like that not end up going to med school lololol
└An hour by car from Gangnam Station to Yangjae Station. We urgently need Oracle introduced.
As if reflecting the citizens’ heightened interest, the government’s movements also became urgent.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport convened emergency meetings, and the spokesperson for the presidential office also expressed through an official statement their intention to formally invite Team Apex.
* * *
For Sri, the past year had been dreamlike in many ways.
He had met Seoha and been given a stage on which he could freely display his talent. But a dream was a dream because one had to wake from it.
The entire campus was steeped in a festive mood.
He remembered the face of Dean Thomas, who had rejoiced that it was the greatest achievement since the Department of Mechanical Engineering had been established. But Sri could not fully enjoy the atmosphere.
Sri stood by the window of the empty lab and looked up at the sky. On the screen of the phone in his hand was a message from his mother.
—I watched your dignified appearance on TV with the neighbors. Do not worry, my proud son. I have gotten much better since changing my medicine. You focus only on your work. Mom is fine.
“A lie.”
There was no way multiple sclerosis would improve that easily.
It was a fact one could easily learn by reading just a few chapters of a medical textbook. When he contacted a friend who lived next door, it turned out as expected.
The events of the past week passed through his mind.
The camera flashes that had burst nonstop.
He had offered heartfelt congratulations to Theo and Sujeong, who stood beside him. And to Seoha, the benefactor of his life, as well.
At school, he often received looks tinged with jealousy. He had also heard someone say that “his life turned around because he met the right teammates.”
And their words were probably true.
“What should I do?”
According to his friend, his mother was having difficulty moving these days.
Multiple sclerosis, MS, was an illness that had to be managed for life through periodic treatment with medicines that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Ding—
Just as his worries deepened, a message arrived on his phone.
“Huh?”
Wondering if he had seen it wrong, Sri rubbed his eyes and checked the text once more.
—$2,000,000.00 USD deposited.
It was a message from the bank.
Sri stared blankly at the screen. Only after counting the number of zeroes twice did it feel real.
Two million dollars. Even in the United States, where medical costs were murderously expensive, it was enough to treat his mother. Sri quickly opened his banking app and checked his balance.
“It really came in.”
The sender was New York City Hall.
‘Why from there?’
He had heard that Oracle’s performance bonus would only be paid a year later.
His only income consisted of the research funds that came in every month and a small scholarship for living expenses.
Was it hacking? Or a transfer error?
Please...
Sri’s heart began to pound like mad.
“Sri, you’re still here?”
He turned around.
It was Seoha, who had become noticeably busier lately because so many places were asking for him.
Sri reflexively poured out what was on his mind to Seoha.
“Se-Seoha! L-look at this! An absurd amount of money suddenly came into my account. I think the bank must have made a mistake. What should I do? I can’t use it and give it back later, can I?”
Sri stammered in panic.
“Ah! That.”
Seoha nodded with an expression as if he had only just remembered.
“It probably isn’t a mistake. When I signed the contract with New York City Hall, I included a clause. I asked them to pay Sri’s performance bonus early. They agreed to pay it as soon as the field test succeeded. It’s already been a week, and it looks like it only just came in now. And that’s the first installment. I told them you’d be receiving much more later.”
Sri’s eyes widened.
“Why...”
“Yes?”
“Why did you put in a clause like that?”
Seoha made an awkward expression.
“...I wanted to make Sri rich quickly.”
“I’m asking you what the reason was!”
Sri raised his voice, unlike himself.
Seoha looked at Sri with his mouth firmly shut. Then he sighed and jutted out his lips.
“Because I didn’t want Sri to leave.”
“What?”
“I don’t know the details, but you seemed like you needed money. Very urgently.”
At Seoha’s calm confession, Sri felt as if his breath had stopped.
“Th-then.”
“If you thought mathematics couldn’t make money, you might leave. Of course, I know you like mathematics. But everyone has their own circumstances.”
At Seoha’s words, Sri’s face reddened.
His guess was true. Sri had been thinking of leaving the team. But it was not only because of money.
“Am I necessary to the team?”
Sri’s expression darkened. Unable to understand the context of the question, Seoha tilted his head.
“Yes? Of course you’re necessary.”
Sri shook his head.
“The minimum energy theory, and Oracle this time too. Even without me, the team would have accomplished them the same way. Without a doubt.
All I did was translate the formulas Seoha gave me into code or combine existing theories. If we were to measure my contribution... hm, about three percent?”
Needless to say, Seoha was a genius, and Theo and Sujeong were both brilliant mathematicians as well. But Sri felt like nothing more than a passenger who had been lucky enough to get on the bus called Team Apex.
“Ah...”
Seoha brought a hand to his chin and put on a serious expression. Sri guessed he must be thinking the same thing.
“So I’ll stop here. I will accept the money. As you said, Seoha, I truly need this money. But someday, I will definitely pay it back.”
Sri pressed his palms together as he had when they first met and bowed his head.
“Sri!”
When he turned around, Seoha was staring at him intently.
“Yes?”
Had it been too rude?
Sri reproached himself, thinking he should at least have said goodbye to the team members in advance. But the words that came from Seoha’s mouth were different from what he expected.
“Sri, don’t tell me you consider yourself an engineer?”
What did he mean?
He had received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and his master’s was now nearly finished as well. As Sri merely blinked, unable to understand, Seoha approached him and whispered.
“You are an incredible mathematician. And a very rare one at that—the kind I don’t have to explain things to more than once.”
Seoha had already drawn up a growth plan for Sri.
Seoha could not simply stand by and watch him leave like this.