The innovation area. It was for research and development and testing out new ideas. If Nathan had to start all over again, this is where he would begin. This was where he loved to work.
The department was empty. Nathan wandered around until he found a mostly empty desk. He sat down and stretched out his legs. Soft winter sunlight filled the small room. There were rows of computer parts along the back wall along with various tools. Nathan opened up his own desk and found it full of mismatched tools. There were pliers, screwdrivers, wire crimpers, spudger and pry bars, and more.
It reminded him of his work space when he first started years ago.
He started when the door beeped and swung open. A young man in casual clothes sauntered in, a thin black laptop under his arm. He dropped the laptop on Nathan’s desk.
“Oh, hey. I have this laptop. It’s busted,” the man explained. “My supervisor said to bring it to you guys since you always need parts and stuff.”
“Thanks.” Nathan decided not to reveal that he was actually the big boss. No need to freak the guy out. Everyone he'd met here so far had been kind and friendly.
The man waved his hand and exited the door, leaving Nathan alone with the busted laptop.
Nathan looked at it for a moment and then picked it up. He inspected the casing and the power inputs. He tried turning it on. The laptop was definitely busted. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
Nathan’s hands knew what to do. He opened the casing and pulled the computer apart. His hands found the tools he needed and his fingers remembered how to use them. Fixing the laptop barely took any conscious effort.
It felt good.
Ideas started to come to him. He could make the laptop slimmer by reducing the fan size. Tweaking the ports would allow more efficient use of the wiring.
He was transported back in time to when he was just starting out. He used to do this under a single light bulb in a storage rental. It was there that he’d created the Quad-ram. He’d been the first to come up with it, and now it was standard. He had his fingerprints on nearly every computer in the world, simply because he’d tinkered while fixing another computer.
It was easier to think back then. There were less complications. Nathan reached for a pair of pliers, bending a piece back into place.
What if he stayed here? What if he didn’t move Elements Computer Technologies to California? The campus was set up and running. They had some of the best talent flowing in by way of the college. The town supported them.
And that would mean that he had a legitimate reason to stay out here as well.
The possibility tugged at him.
He shook his head. It would cost too much. It wouldn’t work. The board wouldn’t go for it. There were a million reasons, most of them dollars, that it wouldn’t work. He pushed the idea away. He would lose money doing that, and money was what mattered.
“There,” Nathan said, putting the laptop back together. He plugged it in and the screen flickered to life. Nathan sat back, admiring his work. Pride filled him, rushing and heady.
He played around on the laptop, making sure it really was fixed. He liked the idea of leaving ECT where it was. He’d look into what the cost would be. He worried that he would lose money, but for the first time in a long time, it didn’t eat at his soul.
He shut down the laptop and carefully set it up on a shelf. He looked around, hoping for another busted computer that he could fix. He liked fixing. His mind was able to find solutions not only to the repair, but also to his business.
He should have done this for RentTech. He’d botched that addition to the company. He was surprised the board hadn’t fired him on the spot. Millions of dollars lost because of him. He’d made the wrong choice. It was all fixed now, but he still felt the sting of near failure.
He’d lost money because of it.
He found another discarded computer. This one was a desktop model, probably a couple years old. He already started making mental checklists of things to do: new memory, a new processor, check the wiring...
And then it dawned on him. It was estimated he earned around one hundred thousand dollars an hour at the minimum. He’d spent an hour putting this laptop back together.
This was the world’s most expensive laptop. And it wasn’t even that good.
He set the desktop back down and took a step back.
His phone beeped. It was time for his meeting.
Nathan groaned. He wanted to stay and fix the worthless computer. He hated these meetings. He hated the financial speak and the smarmy handshakes. It was as far from fixing and creating things as he could get.
Yet, it paid well.
And money was what was important. Money was everything.