Chapter 69: Daily Life in the Apartment

After a busy day, Martin didn't work overtime today. Instead, he drove back to the apartment at 7 p.m. Before he could shower, change, or order takeout, the quartet of physics nerds returned, carrying what looked like an electronic equipment.

"Hi! Are you guys planning to hack into the Pentagon?" Martin joked.

Howard, connecting wires while feigning mystery, replied, "Something even cooler!"

Intrigued, Martin put down his laptop and watched as they connected household appliances in the living room to a mysterious box. "What's this for?" Martin asked, eyeing the box but keeping his distance. Since witnessing Sheldon build a nuclear reactor at age 11, he'd adhered to the motto "curiosity killed the cat," avoiding touching unknown devices—especially those possibly emitting radiation.

Rajesh pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh… the magic is about to happen." Howard solemnly pressed the Enter key after linking the black box to his computer. A minute passed with no changes.

"Did… something happen?" Martin asked, confused.

"Wait!" Leonard interrupted, staring at the appliances. Suddenly, a lamp by the sofa turned off. The group erupted in cheers: "We did it! We did it!"

Martin frowned. "What did you do?"

"This isn't normal!" Howard explained, pointing at the box. "A signal from Austria's Sway Pagès bounced off a geostationary satellite to Lisbon, switched to a trans-Atlantic submarine cable, converged in Halifax, and relayed via microwave across North America to our ISP. Finally, it reached our X10 controller to turn off the lamp!"

After a long pause, Martin deadpanned, "So… this is just a remote internet switch?"

The group exchanged awkward glances. "Well… technically," Leonard admitted.

Martin turned to leave. All that fuss for a feature Windows 2000 already had?

"Martin, you don't understand—" Rajesh tried, but Martin cut him off. "You can buy these remote controls cheaply on eBay!"

"Wait!" Howard protested. "Activate the public access system!" Toy cars in the room began moving as strangers online took control. The group cheered again, but Martin shook his head. "Do you realize what this means? Sheldon's unpublished paper could be stolen. Leonard's year-long experiment is exposed. Giving access to your NASA supercomputer link? Rajesh's unnamed asteroid?"

Panicked, the four tore the wires from the box.

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After 30 minutes of nervous cleanup, Martin ordered pizzas from Giacomo's—today was Sheldon's "pizza day."

"One 18-inch Mexican thin-crust and a 13-inch Italian sausage deep-dish."

Rajesh, coiling wires, asked, "Why two? An 18-inch should be enough."

"Penny's joining us," Martin explained, just as the door knocked. Rajesh froze upon seeing Penny in her waitress uniform.

"Still can't talk to me, huh?" Penny teased Rajesh, who deflated instantly.

Martin finalized the pizza order: "Sausage diced, mushrooms sliced, light olive oil, extra cheese—"

Sheldon interjected, "No pulp in the juice!"

"They hung up before I could say it," Martin shrugged.

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When the pizza arrived, Martin calculated: "$77 total. Everyone pays $11. Penny's share is on me." Though Penny often teased them for freeloading, she insisted on paying her way—except now, amid a post-Thanksgiving financial crisis.

Grateful, Penny kissed Martin's cheek. "You're the best!"

As they ate, Martin eyed the dismantled equipment and asked, "Howard, how's the voice recognition project?"

"No progress," Howard shrugged.

"Technical issues?"

"Nah. Just lost interest."

Martin sighed. A week ago, they'd dreamed of profits. Now? Back to tinkering just for fun.

(End of Chapter)

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