"Did you create this?"
Jimmy puffed out his chest and asked with a clever look, "Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"Of course, the truth."
"Alright, I'll tell you. I built this, obviously. But if you're interested in all the programming, the calculations, and the inner structure of its components, you should know that everything is right here." Jimmy pointed to his own brain, showing that there was nothing physical that could be stolen.
Sheldon, who had been staring at the robot dog, remained silent, unable to say a word. It wasn't out of fear — rather, his mind was trying to come up with a logical explanation to discredit Jimmy, someone who in his eyes shouldn't be so brilliant.
Tam, of course, wasn't thinking about any of that. He was just playing with Jimmy's robot dog, which had a play mode.
"What's its name?"
"Goddard. He's my companion and helps me with my work — he has numerous functions."
"Incredible! It can even spin!"
Jimmy glanced at Sheldon, and of course, he wasn't entirely satisfied, since his feelings didn't allow him to be childish. "Sheldon, what do you think?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" Sheldon looked confused.
"What do you think about my invention? This whole room is my workshop. There are many important and dangerous things here, so I hope you don't touch anything without my permission." Jimmy wanted to give his friends a tour of his inventions.
But obviously, the circumstances weren't ideal.
Tam wouldn't stop playing, and Sheldon stood there contemplating the place — which, in his eyes, was like a spiritual sanctuary, much like the religious described holy sites. His gaze wandered over the walls filled with complex mathematical evaluations that surpassed any academic difficulty he'd ever encountered.
It was certain that if anything here were exposed to the public, it would cause a stir, labeling Jimmy as the most brilliant mind of all time.
And that, of course, was no joke. But Jimmy wasn't here to win big awards for his inventions — he was here to create the best company in the world, one that everyone would turn to when searching for solutions.
"My next innovation is a video game console, more advanced than anything the world has seen. I want to beat Western sales markets before foreigners flood us with products that are still decades behind in innovation." Jimmy started bombarding his friends with dreams and big ideas — but neither of them was listening.
Tam, who finally decided to stop playing with Goddard, stood up and said, "Well, I think I need to go to my parents' store to help with inventory."
"Wait, I'll go with you. I've got a lot to think about." Sheldon was still stunned — a feeling that might last for days.
Jimmy looked at Sheldon and said, "Don't you want pizza? My parents are helping me with patent filings, so we could order anything you want."
"No, I need to go home." Sheldon walked out with Tam, and both disappeared from Jimmy's view within seconds.
They both seemed to have things to do — that wasn't surprising — but the outcome of today's events was a bit unexpected.
"I guess making friends in Texas is more complicated than I thought…" Jimmy turned around and closed the door.
He hadn't expected to make friends — he just wanted someone to spend time and have fun with. But given how things went, he realized Sheldon might not want to be friends or simply wasn't interested.
Losing his appetite, Jimmy walked down to his basement again to continue developing the video game console he was planning to launch on the market.
His friend Goddard was a huge help — with his personal assistant features and artificial intelligence, he could solve many of the problems Jimmy didn't want to waste time on.
The results were astonishing, but Jimmy knew that if he wanted to truly revolutionize the market, he needed to create something entirely new and innovative.
He didn't just need to think about the console — he had to consider maintenance servers and how he would protect all this data from people who might try to steal everything he'd built.
In that lonely basement, Jimmy spent countless hours working on an invention that had to be absolutely flawless.
…
Meanwhile, at the Cooper household, Sheldon stormed into the living room, slamming the door shut, showing through his actions that he was either upset or embarrassed.
Mary, Sheldon's mother, was in the kitchen and came out alarmed when she heard the noise. Seeing her son sitting in the living room, she approached and asked, "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing."
Missy walked over and, seeing her twin brother upset, teased, "It's probably because of the 'ordinary genius' next door. Sheldon must feel inferior to someone for the first time."
"I don't feel inferior. Jimmy and I are interested in different fields of study, so there's no point of comparison." Sheldon, clearly agitated, corrected his sister's ridiculous claim.
"Easy, son. If you're not upset about that, did you have a bad day at school?" Mary glanced at her daughter, silently telling her to stop teasing Sheldon, who had never acted like this before.
With two people he considered close watching him, Sheldon couldn't help but let out a sigh and say, "Jimmy asked me to be his friend, but I don't think we can be."
"Why? You two seem to understand each other quite well."
"It's just…" Sheldon ran out of words. He was too embarrassed to admit that Jimmy was someone beyond his comprehension. How could a kid build those things, while he had burned down the garage trying to make a rocket fly?
It was incomprehensible — so without thinking twice, he muttered, "I don't get it…"
"You don't understand people? That's nothing new," Missy said, eyes still on the TV.
Mary, being an understanding woman, looked at her son and said, "Then you can start from there. Not everyone becomes best friends in a few hours. Jimmy just moved into our neighborhood — and you've never had a neighbor who's passionate about the same things as a…"
"I get it. Jimmy might be hard to understand, but I can handle that." Sheldon had an idea. He wanted to learn from Jimmy, and if he wasn't being tricked, maybe they really could become friends.