The Space
Chapter Nine
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford
Archimy paced back and forth in front of Cinque’s desk, the anticipation of finally meeting a neuroscientist doing real work in the field of multimodal studies was proving to be one of the most exciting upticks on the rollercoaster of the last few years.
“Sit down would you?” Cinque laughed, “you’ll wear a hole right through the floor.”
Archimy took two overextended steps, slinking into the chair directly in front of Cinque. “This could be the first person we talk to who really understands the concepts we came up with in the FabLab for the NFA.” He took a deep breath to keep from bursting with excitement over all the possibilities. “Dr. Davis has been working on these brain training programs, but I mean, the idea of putting all that into a physical space… Do you think he’ll be into it?”
Cinque smiled and stood up behind his desk, “Dean is a truly unique resource, and he’s agreed to come and work with us, so I’d say we’ve sparked his interest.” Cinque gestured to the door, “why don’t you ask him for yourself?”
Dean walked into the office, immediately giving off an air of extreme cool confidence reserved for musicians and rockstar scientists who knew some secret so big they could never tell you, although it always felt like it was just about to give way.
As the team became acquainted, he told them stories of private jets to secret military bases, the electrostimulation of the brain and mapping brainwaves of those who volunteered to spend days in sensory isolation. It always felt as if he was on the cusp of bringing up aliens or the practical futures of teleportation, but his calm humility suggested that he never would, as it would discredit the science he’d spent a lifetime developing.
“So,” Archimy could no longer hold his anticipation, “when working on this last project of ours, we came up with the idea of a multi-use space, I know Cinque filled you in a bit on that over the phone. What are your thoughts on using this multimodal research to fill in the gaps?”
“The idea is brilliant,” Dean lit up, “a gym of sorts, where the mind and body meet, yes?”
“That’s the plan,” continued Cinque, “we would like to include the mind, the body, social and physical wellness, all in a place for everyone, all ages, to come together.”
“In putting it all together like this,” Dean pondered aloud, “we would be able to see the effects of this entirety of wellness on people’s lives. The idea of creating a place where people could visit on a regular basis to better themselves, this would give us a view on a slice of the population, and how we can all create positive change for the future.”
“Exactly!” Archimy added, “if we look at what we did at the NFA, creating a new platform for wellness in a community setting, and with what you’re bringing to the table Dean, we have the tools to describe what all this is. We can help to create a new culture, with a new approach to learning, the roots of The Space.”
Archimy and Dean continued passionately discussing the possibilities of the future of this technological wellness center. Cinque stepped back from the table and looked at his phone, the ID on the incoming call made him smile from ear to ear. It was an old friend of Cinque’s, one who, in the 20 years prior, had been attempting to build a new form of school.
“Martin,” he laughed, “your ears must have been burning.” Cinque put the call on speaker, and Martin Moohny joined the conversation.
“Listen, guys, I’ve just put an offer down on a lot in Vegas.” Martin beamed, “This place is only too perfect for what you guys are working on. But as with all good things, there’s one little catch. We’ve only got two months to decide.”
The call ended, and the team sat back, looking around at one another in excitement and disbelief.
Dean stood up and placed both palms flat on the table leaning in, “Well,” he nodded to the group, “I guess we’d better get to work.”
Cinque, Archimy, and Martin began putting together a team to start looking at construction options for the site. Though the design and architecture would be done in house, they would need workers onsite in Nevada to put it all together.
“We’re going to need to start looking at new players for the team,” Cinque told Archimy, “We’ve got a good base going with Dean and ourselves, but if we are going to take on this space, we’re going to need experts.”
They set to work, they would need two teams for this job. Outside and in. “We’ve got Felix, he can cover entertainment.” Archimy started jotting down a list.
“We’re going to need someone for operations, another for business development,” Cinque added.
“Content,” Archimy said looking up, “we need music, video, I don’t know, maybe storytelling?” He began to search his mind for possible connections.
“I’ll start searching my contacts,” Cinque paused for a moment to rub his eyes, “you and I have been through a lot, we can build this team.” He reached across the table and patted Archimy on the shoulder. “You know, we’re also going to have to find all the hardware.”
Archimy smiled through the stress, looking up at Cinque, “Hardware, software, IT support,” he held up the list, “the operational backbone. I made some calls, I’ve got HarTex and a few others on the line. We just need to let them know when the purchase goes through, and they’re all good to go.”
“Good work my friend,” Cinque smiled, “it’s all coming together.”
The team began to fall into place, each new member was more excited than the last. The idea of a multimodal space, the wellness, the educational opportunities, it seemed it touched the hearts of everyone involved. Each member’s story contributed to the drive of it all.
Each of them from a different walk of life, and for those reasons, the perfect contributors in each of their own fields. It was a team of misfit experts, they had all risen to their place in the team as if by some universal strength gathering them all together for the purpose of creating a shared space, a shared dream for everyone.
They worked together tirelessly, overcoming the ebbs and flows of each challenge and roadblock on the way to building something better. Two months felt more like two weeks with the team coming together in a collaboration reminiscent of sailors working as one to push their yacht across the surface of the unforgiving waves.
As the team finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel, Archimy turned to Cinque, “I think somehow, we’ve done it.” he smiled in disbelief. Everything had fallen into place, the team, the location, the funding, it was all there.
“It’s been a long time coming my friend,” Cinque said, returning a warm smile, “this could be the beginning.”
Cinque, Archimy, and Martin flew to the site. They took a deep breath of the warm desert air and basked in the shadows of the neighboring stadium.
“It’s all ready to go,” Cinque told Martin, “Twenty-some years in the making, and the pieces are finally in place.”
“Excuse me for just a minute,” Martin said, removing the buzzing phone from his pocket.
Cinque and Archimy walked along the dirt path, taking in the scope of the site. “Is it really going to happen?” Archimy asked.
“It’s all lining up,” said Cinque, looking back to Martin, “but I think our answer is on the other end of that call.”
The two of them looked to Martin as he finished up the call, he paused for a moment, looking at his phone in disbelief. He walked over to join the other two, slipping his hands into his pockets and looking out onto the horizon.
“That was the seller.” Martin took a deep and somber breath, “The deals off the table. Turns out there is another interested buyer who’s a friend of the family. He’s been trying to purchase the lot for years now and each time they accept his offer his funding has fallen through. I should have caught that when I did my research. I can’t believe I let it fall through. Anyway turns out this guy actually has the funding this time, or if not, at least the seller is willing to give him another chance.” He took another step forward, and hung his head, “Our offer has been declined without comment. We’re done.”
Archimy reached down and scooped up a bit of sand, letting the warm winds carry it away grain by grain.
…The sim faded with it.
Cyd and Macky pulled off their specs, both of them staring speechless into the center of their Holo-Desk, almost through it.
“I don’t understand, everything was supposed to work,” Macky said, in a teary whisper.
“I don’t know.” Cyd sighed, fraying the edges of a torn piece of paper. She turned it over and saw inscribed on the other side ‘-Arch’ she furrowed her brow for a moment.
“What is it Cyd?” Macky asked leaning in, “the letter from Archimy?”
“I remember something he said once, in a history module,” she strained to remember. “Every project has a ground zero. A place where it all happened or didn’t. Sometimes we remember these places and sometimes we don’t.” She stood up and began pacing around the desk.
“He was talking about Vegas,” Macky realized, “but what does it mean?”
“I don’t think anyone really knows, but I know he would want us to learn something from it, I think that’s all he ever wanted was a place for people to learn.” Cyd sat back down at the desk and looked to her friend.
“Well,” Macky said, drawing circles on the table with his finger, “we’re here learning together, so that must mean something.”
“Maybe that’s just it Macky,” she said, letting the paper fall back to the table. “This quest has brought us closer together, even though we don’t always find what we are looking for, we go on to the next thing together. Do you know what I’m saying?” Cyd smiled and reached over to squeeze Macky’s hand.
“They didn’t find what they were looking for in Vegas,” Macky said looking up, “but they found the team!”
Continue to Chapter Ten
