‘I knew all the Bosquanets. But especially Augustus. In fact, despite all his shenanigans, there was a time I even hoped he would succeed in making something of himself, but I suppose it was not to be … But that is another story. Now, around the time Augustus Bosquanet was making headline after headline, another young man was also attracting attention, and for completely different reasons. He was a research student at one of the world’s premier institutions who had just published a groundbreaking paper on information processing. More than a paper, it was an encyclopaedia detailing exactly how information travelled to and through the brain, how it was processed, how it impacted certain areas of the brain and, perhaps most exciting of all, it postulated the means by which, in the near future, these findings could be used to create the ability to spontaneously imbibe all information a particular source had to offer. It was a stupendous achievement, and the fact that it came from one so young only added to the sheen around it. And although his name later became a household word, it was because of that paper that the scientific community first heard of young Robert Donnelly.’

Father paused meaningfully, looking at Albert, cleared his throat and went on. ‘It was only the beginning. Over the next four years he produced a series of revolutionary research papers, on subjects as wide-ranging as brain biomechanics, nanotechnology and, most significantly, artificial intelligence. And the acknowledgements poured in. He was universally hailed within the fraternity as a genius, a scientific mind that already belonged in the pantheon of greats, one who was destined to surpass, even eclipse, the giants of the past. And, remember, he was still just a student. When he graduated, the bidding war between the various technology companies to hire him was something to behold. And at the end of it, in what was seen as a major coup, Bernadine Bosquanet succeeded in securing his services and so, in what became one of the most followed stories on news feeds for weeks, Robert Donnelly joined the Icarus Corporation.