Member-only story
Fiction
The Dog Code
A genius 12-year old, a dog, and a computer spend too much time together.
Will Field was a genius at the age of twelve. He basically thought in math. English was more of a second language. Will was also extremely gifted in science and engineering.
Will’s father, Doug, was a mechanic who gave up on understanding his son a few years prior. Doug had lost his wife to cancer when Will was seven and felt totally lost when it came to parenting Will. Doug knew his late wife would have known how to handle a genius, being a college professor herself, but he was clueless. He knew engines, not child geniuses.
But when Doug noticed Will’s interest in mechanical things, he felt a small bond growing. Doug kept Will supplied with tools and materials he needed to build his latest ideas. With some help from his father, Will was able to construct machines and program them to do nearly anything he pleased.
For Will, school was simply a chore that must be endured, as mandated by the state. Will was far smarter than any of his teachers, so classes were tedious for him. He was also bored by the banal interests of his classmates. Sports, entertainment, girls, video games, and other such activities only kept him from his primary goal in life, pursuing knowledge and inventing.
