Spitting in the face

Frowning, Christian realized he's in a psychologist session, but knowing his mother wants this, he just went on "When your thoughts, sensations, and memories are so many in your head, you'll realize that no matter what you rely on to keep you stable, as long as you don't have to endure those overwhelming moments all day long, that's enough."

"What thoughts Christian?"

"Everything Miss Kira, everything... the armchair you are sitting on has 49 nails placed at different points, it has 1214 seams along and across, all in perfect condition and with a current durability of approximately 10 years... why do I know that? Because my thoughts make me investigate even the stupidest thing I see, all in order to have more security, to know that it won't be a problem... just like now I think about if he is recording our conversation... his right hand inside his pocket makes me very suspicious, even more, if we consider that this same hand is opening the pocket, making it easier for the sound waves to reach a possible recorder with better quality... I don't know why I would want to do it, but an important person once told me 'don't trust anyone', I won't overlook his recommendation"

Raising her eyebrows, Kira pulls her hand out of her pocket, showing in it a tape recorder "That was a perfect suspicion... yes, she was recording everything"

"Why would he do that? Do you know how rude it is to record another person's conversations without their consent?"

"There are times in life when asking ruins everything"

"That doesn't eliminate the fact that you recorded me, Miss Kira, that's pretty unethical coming from a psychologist, don't you think?"

"..."

"I'll let this situation alone miss Kira, all because my mother wants me to do this, I won't forgive another similar situation" Speaking seriously, Christian turns to towards his mother, who was staring at Kira, while anger could be seen growing in her eyes.

"Sorry for dropping by to take you away Christian"

"Don't say sorry if you don't mean it" Christian snorted, then turning to his mother and reaching out "Could I borrow your cell phone mom?"

With hesitation, Eva pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Christian, as the boy began to type rapidly.

"I see, Kira Martinez... you're the one who coordinates the psychology department within Harvard, but according to Google you deal with adults, not children."

"Yes" With a smile, Kira nodded, as her eyes sparkled brighter and brighter at the sight of the child.

"Andrew Tyson... oh, it's his wife who runs the research on the millennium questions, unfortunately, they never yielded any results, it's a pity"

Without losing his friendly smile, Andrew nodded "Yes, the questions have generated a lot of work for our students and teachers, even in the world there are thousands of mathematicians working every day to get results and help the scientific community"

"What a noble goal" Christian nodded, then put the cell phone aside, not bothering to seek information from the ill-mannered woman.

"So Christian, now that you've confirmed who we are, could I ask you another question?" smiling, Kira asked softly.

"Ask?"

"You said your thoughts were tormenting you, but you also talked about sensations and memories, may I know what you mean?"

"That's complicated to explain..." Christian answered with a little doubt, then turned to his mother and smiled "Since I was born I have memories of everything, and if I say everything it is everything... many will believe that remembering everything is a blessing, but it is not so, I would say that many times it is torture... memories are not something you can control, they just come, and remembering things you don't want to remember, memories that are so exact that include smells and sounds... it is not something I would call a blessing"

"..."

"About the feelings, it's complicated... since I was a child I had trouble communicating with others, I learned several languages, thinking that would help me... but it just didn't work, I couldn't understand people, my emotions are intense and I didn't know how to express them, in a way that scared me. ...loneliness can overwhelm even the strongest, and I never considered myself the strongest...but there is something worse than what has already been said...having to endure the two together, enduring overwhelming sadness with memories that foster that sadness, memories that make you feel like you are reliving them over and over again"

"That... that must be hard" Kira replied haltingly.

"That's why I say my family is my stability, never mind that relying on a third party for my stability is wrong, as that's all I could ask for, I love that they are my stability" Christian smiled nonchalantly, as he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, quickly recognizing his mother's hand.

Kissing the hand, Christian smiled reassuringly "Relax mom, I've learned to cope with everything"

But still, Eva was worried to hear her son's torment, but knowing it's not the time, she could only suppress her concern for the moment.

"I'm sorry to make you talk about these things Christian" Kira apologized sincerely for the first time, causing Christian to raise his eyebrows.

"Doesn't it feel better when you apologize from your heart? But don't worry, it's something you learn to live with... you adapt" Christian smiled, but inside he bitterly remembered all the times where he snapped.

"..."

"But well, I guess you didn't just come to see me and ask me how I'm feeling, did you?"

Shaking his head, Professor Andrew speaks "No, actually we came to see your theories on the millennium questions... could we see them?"

"..." Staring at the kindly man in front of him, Christian speaks "That you can see them, you can... but I have a question running around in my mind"

"..."

"I'm just a kid from a poor neighborhood in a poor city, what gave you the confidence to travel to another state and trust that I actually have the answers?"

"We had no confidence in anything when we arrived" He smiled bitterly Andrew "We only trusted Jordan, he's been a friend of mine for quite some time, and he never praised someone like he did you, that motivated us to give you a vote of faith..... I'm glad to know we weren't wrong"

"..." Tapping his thigh with his fingers, Christian muses "May I know what you want to see my answers for? I have guesses, but I need to know it from their mouths"

"We want to help the scientific community, we have no other reason" Andrew replied in a serious voice.

"Don't lie to me Professor, my eyes see many things, and lies are as visible as the sun" Christian lazily replied, sending a small shiver down Andrew's back, while Kira kept looking at the boy.

"*Sigh* I'm not lying" Andrew insisted in a defeated, distressed voice.

"If that's going to be your attitude, we have nothing more to talk about" With annoyance, Christian rose from his seat.

"Wait!" Andrew exclaimed, then sighed even more wearily "Well, we need the prestige these questions give."

"Oh, at last, you're being honest" Smiled Christian satisfied, quickly grabbing his tail to sit back down "Could you tell me what a university like Harvard needs prestige for?"

"It's not Harvard that needs it, it's the mathematics department."

"Oh, I understand, a long time without important results generates a fall in its reputation... is it something like that?"

"Yes... exactly that"

"Could you tell me what you would have done if my answers were correct?"

"Our idea is that, if they were correct, we would give you a scholarship and support your answers at our university, you would just have to skip grades and get into college early, your intelligence is lost in a simple school"

"That's a nice plan, I'm glad you're not thinking of just stealing me"

"That crossed our mind, but we thought it would be too risky-" But Andrew didn't get to finish speaking and fell silent, as he opened his eyes wide and muttered "W-why did I say that?"

"I don't know, I just ask and people trust me with their secrets" Christian smiled strangely, knowing that it's not the first time this happened.

"..."

Kira seeing what happened, frowned, constantly looking at Andrew and the boy, but still chose silence and watch, while Jean sat up straighter, frowning deeply.

"Mrs. and Mr. Tyson, we'll come to an agreement, shall we?" smiled Christian, taking the cell phone next to him and recording the people's faces, then pressing the pause button and turning the cell phone, showing perfectly that he was recording them during this time "I understand that they are in a desperate moment, I also understand that they may be mothers, fathers, people with children or families, it's respectable... but since they arrived, they hid their intentions, Mrs. Jean treated us with disdain, Mrs. Kira recorded my answers without my consent... Mr. Andrew tried to hide the real reason for everything, without taking into account that they were deceiving a 9-year-old child, or maybe they did and that's why they took the risk"

"..."

"I am not a heartless child, my mother raised me with values, respect, sincerity, solidarity, among others... values that I deeply respect... my own values are simple, if you treat me with respect, I will give you respect, but if you spit in my face, I will spit in your face... they are simple values, but effective... today you being respected professors of the most prestigious university in the world, you spit in my face, so don't make those shocked faces when watching this video, you should have expected it back"

"..."

"So my deal is as follows... I trust that my 3 answers are correct, I will give you the time to verify them and everything, I will give you the authorization to publish it inside the scientific journal you want... you can also say that you supported me and helped me in the process, nurturing my knowledge constantly supporting this young genius... but the money you get is mine"

"..."

"So you will have the prestige you need, the mathematics department will have the news of having nurtured a genius who, at only 9 years old, answered 3 millennium questions" With those words, Christian leaned back in his seat, staring at the elderly couple, while, in his mind, a phrase repeated 'Be feared, but not hated. .. I already made them fear me by having proof of everything that happened today, but I don't want them to hate me either, let's give him a good prestige and that's it, nothing better than saying that they raised a child genius who can solve questions that even scientists can't'

"..." Looking at each other, the elderly couple nodded to each other, without needing to think more, then turning to Christian and speaking "We would like to do everything through lawyers, signing a confidentiality agreement of everything that happened today, in return all your requests will be accepted, you can even receive the medal if you are awarded one... for redressing today's grievances, we will take care of expediting your theories, and if they are correct, you won't have to wait so long to have them confirmed, maximum one year"

Stretching out his hand with a smile, Christian speaks "Let's put our problems behind us and make it a good collaboration."

"*Sigh* Happy cooperation" Andrew shook the boy's hand, creating a rather comical scene.

A 9-year-old boy with white hair and a dinosaur costume was happily holding the hand of an older man with a defeated expression, Eva thinking quickly, grabbed her cell phone and photographed the moment.

"Well, let's see my theories... to all this, you will bring the lawyer Mr. Andrew?" asked Christian with hidden shyness, knowing that they still can't afford a lawyer.

"Don't worry, it will be on us, now let's see your answers because that's what our collaboration depends on."

Getting up, Christian takes 3 notebooks from the table and approaches the elderly duo "Poincaré's conjecture, Riemann's hypothesis, and Yang-mills theory, those 3 are ready."

But instead of passing the notebooks to the professors, Christian opened all 3 and ripped half of the pages out of each, then walked to the sink and wet the papers, all in front of the incredulous gaze of those present.

Smiling, Christian nods with satisfaction and speaks "I can't trust you completely, you will understand why... that's why I will show you the beginning of the theories and with that you will draw your conclusions... when we sign the contract you will be given all the results"