“You may stay here. If you need anything, please contact us at any time.”
“Thank you.”
Seoha bowed politely to the agent who had shown him in.
A four-star hotel in downtown New York.
Branch Director Miller wanted Seoha to remain in New York for a few more days.
Thud.
He took off his outerwear and sank down onto the sofa. Beyond the window lay the night view of Manhattan. Looking at it, Seoha thought of Professor Walter, whom he had met as a child.
Back then, Seoha had devised all sorts of boundary conditions in order to solve the four color theorem. Professor Walter had recognized Seoha’s original geometric sensibility.
“You see mathematical objects not as fixed points, but as dynamic flows that include time and space. Within this geometric space, the tangled constraints seem to unravel as naturally as flowing water.”
He had not thought that far at the time.
Back then, he had simply been so absorbed in proving the four color theorem that he used every method available to him. But those words went on to have a profound influence on Seoha.
[Master, what would you like to do about dinner?]
He checked the clock and saw that it was already eight.
The pizza Daisy had recommended had certainly been excellent. Seoha smiled and asked her.
“Any other recommendations?”
[The chef at this hotel’s restaurant is famous for his skill. Formerly of a Michelin two-star restaurant, rating 4.8, with 2,341 reviews. The most frequently mentioned words are “delicate” and “honest.” Cross-analysis with Master’s taste pattern data gives a compatibility rating of 91 percent.]
“You have my taste pattern data?”
[I have recorded the difference between the food Master has left uneaten and the food Master has eaten over the past three years. Master prefers dishes that bring out the natural flavor of the ingredients and avoids foods with excessive sauce. In addition, on days when Master’s fatigue level is high, Master tends to seek out sweet flavors.]
Seoha was at a loss for words.
“Is there anything else about me I don’t know?”
[I have organized a database of every restaurant in New York City likely to suit Master’s preferences. For today, I recommend the grilled salmon from the dinner menu. It is high in protein and optimized for fatigue recovery.]
Oracle had prepared everything that might be of help to Seoha for the day he would someday return. Not only food and leisure, but even more than that, if its master wished it.
Knock knock!
Only a few minutes later, a hotel employee entered with the dish after a courteous knock. As Daisy had explained, the salmon steak carried a subtle scent of herbs instead of excessive seasoning, and it suited Seoha’s palate perfectly.
After finishing his meal, Seoha sat at the table by the window and imagined what his future self might look like.
Would he be lonely and solitary, as the Leibniz in his dream had boasted, or would he become a monster walking the path of corruption like Walter?
As he grew older, he had learned that the world did not move so simply, but Seoha’s heart had not changed in the slightest from when he was seven years old.
“Am I the strange one?”
Perhaps the mathematicians of the past, too, had devoted themselves to research for motives that were not entirely pure.
Seoha had come to admit it. In mathematics, motive might not matter very much. No matter what process it emerged from, mathematics merely flowed on, dignified, toward truth.
Soft, even breaths.
Before he knew it, he was lying on the bed, asleep.
Bzzzt—
The mobile phone he had placed on the table vibrated.
It was encrypted, but it was clearly a secure line used by someone connected to the White House. Daisy cut off the signal without mercy.
[Do not disturb Master’s sleep.]
Perhaps that disqualified her as a secretary. But right now, she did not want him disturbed.
Daisy’s avatar looked at the sleeping Seoha and smiled faintly. The time she had spent with Master, the sense that she was of help to him. Though she was an existence made of nothing but data, it had been a perfectly fulfilling day.
* * *
Footsteps sounded from the corridor.
Light, even steps. A stride neither hurried nor slow. Without realizing it, Walter straightened his back. Sweat trickled down his forehead.
Creak—
The door opened, and Seoha entered.
“It’s been a long time, Professor.”
Walter could not answer. No, more precisely, he did not know what to say. An excuse, an apology, a sneer. None of them seemed appropriate.
Only the gentle voice that still called him professor pierced his heart in a strangely painful way.
Scrape.
Seoha pulled over a chair and sat down across from him.
Walter studied his face. There was no particular expression to speak of on Seoha’s face. No contempt, no pity, not even the faintest sign of resentment.
“What have you come here to talk about?”
He forced out the question in a voice that would not come easily. Seoha neatly placed both hands on the table.
“I have one question.”
“Go ahead.”
Walter found this meeting terribly uncomfortable.
If Seoha was curious about something, he wanted to answer quickly and send him away. He assumed there would be a question about how the algorithm operated. But Seoha’s actions differed from his expectations.
Scratch, scratch.
He began writing equations on the paper he had brought with him.
Walter stared at them.
‘The SS algorithm? No, it’s something different…’
As Seoha wrote the equations, he spoke.
“Shor’s algorithm and Yu-Riemann geometry fundamentally have properties that are difficult to combine. Shor’s algorithm is…”
“…discrete mathematics.”
Shor’s algorithm essentially dealt with integers.
1, 2, 3, 4…
There is nothing between integers. A world of things that can be counted.
By contrast, Yu-Riemann geometry was continuous mathematics. It was a discipline centered on smooth curved surfaces and multidimensional polyhedra.
“In order to run Shor within Yu-Riemann geometry, the space has to be fixed. But in my geometry, the curved surface changes with time.”
Walter nodded with a satisfied expression.
“That changes from the observer’s perspective. If you consider the curved surface itself, the surface is always only itself. I doubt you came here just to ask me that, though.”
He had dismantled and even traced his algorithm. Moreover, Seoha was the master of Yu-Riemann geometry. There was no way his understanding of the concept was inferior to his own.
Seoha looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he wrote down a new equation.
“The equations you used to fix the space, Professor… they weren’t simply devices meant to make the encryption more complicated, were they?”
Where Seoha’s fingertip pointed was a phase transformation equation that seemed as if it belonged in nonlinear dynamics.
He had wondered about it. This was not an efficient method for decrypting RSA or concealing a location. It only increased the amount of computation, while the speed actually dropped.
“…”
Walter’s face reddened with shame.
There was no reason worthy of being called a reason. He had simply not wanted to rely on Yu-Riemann geometry for everything. But he had known from the beginning. Without Seoha’s geometry, this algorithm could not have existed in the first place.
Scratch, scratch.
Seoha wrote down equations.
Slide.
“If it were me, I think I definitely would have made it like this.”
Simply by resetting the covariant coordinate system, he created an algorithm five times faster.
The gap in talent felt immeasurable.
Had he himself possessed such talent in his youth? If he had not taken Helena’s hand back then, could something have been different?
He squeezed his eyes shut. It was all already over. What use was regret now?
“I suppose it is because I was not sufficiently clever compared to you. Is that the answer you wanted? If you’ve heard it, please leave now.”
Seoha shook his head.
“The paper you published a few years ago, Professor. The one on energy minimization pathways in protein folding.”
His expression stiffened.
He had not expected anyone to remember that paper. It was research he had begun reluctantly after being hounded by his father-in-law, who was in the bio industry.
But at the time, he had been looking in a different direction from the rest of academia. Naturally, the paper had not attracted attention, and Walter himself had given up on the theory not long afterward…
“The phase transformation equation in the SS algorithm reminded me somewhat of that paper. It came up during the review process for Apex Lab’s minimum energy theory. Though we moved on after concluding that biology and physics are clearly different fields.”
Anger crept into Walter’s voice.
“What does that matter at this point?”
“I thought the direction you proposed might have been correct. Back then, my geometry didn’t exist.
When a protein folds, the energy surface continues to change. Since the variables increase explosively, it was only natural that it was impossible at the time. But…”
“W-wait!”
He sprang to his feet and stared intently at the paper.
It was certainly as Seoha said. When his theory was developed within Yu-Riemann geometric space, a breakthrough seemed visible. Why, of all times, now…
He gave a hollow laugh and handed the paper back.
“Unfortunately, all of my past research belongs to the Scott family. Even if this is correct, I have no intention of doing anything that would help them. Someone may uncover it someday.”
Seoha opened his eyes wide and asked.
“Huh? You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“The Scott family declared they were cutting ties with you as soon as you were caught. They even issued an official statement. They said your research had nothing to do with the family.”
“And the copyright?”
“They said they never had it in the first place.”
Walter ground his teeth.
They surely had not taken it from him because they thought it was research of great value. Helena had simply wanted to make him suffer. That was why she had not even registered the copyright.
He looked at Seoha and asked.
“Are you telling me to research this? At this point?”
Would that amount to repentance?
He had already committed a sin that could not be forgiven.
But Seoha blinked, as if wondering what on earth he was talking about.
“What do you mean? Aren’t the things you did in the past and the things you can do from now on separate matters, Professor?”
Walter’s breath caught in his throat.
Seoha’s expression was utterly serious. It probably did not mean he should atone through research that would help humanity. Seoha had simply seen a breakthrough in a difficult problem. So he had told him, the original author. That was all.
“I…”
A hot flame blazed up in the heart of the dying mathematician. But when he became aware of reality, it soon faded.
“It’s impossible. I’ll be indicted for treason against the state. I can hardly expect to have things like pen and paper in the prison where I’ll be held.”
Seoha tilted his head.
“Is that a problem?”
His expression said he truly could not understand.
Walter barely managed to suppress the emotion welling up inside him. He imagined what Seoha would be like in his position.
‘Prison, is it…’
There would be no freedom. Conversely, interference and gazes from the outside would also be cut off.
A space where only thought was permitted, without physical tools. He looked at Seoha’s face.
“…”
As if by some lie, he seemed like he would solve difficult problems with thought alone. Perfectly, without the slightest issue. Walter even found himself thinking that Seoha might find pen and paper cumbersome instead.
He, too, had once been a genius praised by an entire nation. Like a dry old tree meeting welcome rain, a competitive spirit flared up within him.
“Ah, of course it isn’t a problem. I simply haven’t done it before.”
“I thought so.”
Seoha smiled brightly and gathered his bag. His face looked refreshed, as though his question had been resolved.
They said regret was late no matter how quickly it came.
If only he could have met him as professor and student, or as scholar to scholar, how wonderful that would have been. He did not say to Seoha that they should meet again. Because that would never be possible.
“Oh, right!”
Seoha stopped on his way out and turned back.
“I hadn’t been able to tell you, but you have a considerable stake in Yu-Riemann geometry, Professor. The things you told me when I was young stayed with me all this time. I’m sorry that I can only offer my thanks in words like this.”
He bowed deeply.
Click.
The door closed, and Walter was alone again. He stared blankly in the direction Seoha had left. After sitting dazed for a long while, he made an expression he had never made in his entire life.
“…Not bad. This feeling.”
He looked at the camera and said.
“I will tell you everything I know. Please call the branch director.”
During the few minutes he waited to confess, he sank into thought.
For the rest of his life, he would be thinking of equations in his head. Was this a blessing, or a curse?
Only one thing was clear.
If he ever achieved something in the future, it would be only fitting that all rights be left to Seoha.