455-457

Chapter 455: Sheldon the Coward 

It was the dead of night. While Peggy was having a rare heart-to-heart with Adam on the other side of the country, in Pasadena, California, at the California Institute of Technology, someone knocked on the door of an apartment in the doctoral housing complex. 

Due to the time difference, it was 2 a.m. in New York, but only 11 p.m. here. Most college students would still be out partying hard at this hour, but not the resident of this apartment. By 9 p.m. every night, he was in his pajamas, tucked into his perfectly made bed with just his head sticking out, sleeping as soundly as Dracula in his coffin. 

Well, okay—if there were actual thunder, he’d probably be wide awake. The guy’s afraid of pretty much everything. 

And who was this “vampire count”? None other than Sheldon Cooper, currently pursuing his second doctorate at Caltech. 

In his sleep, Sheldon’s face twisted in terror as he thrashed his head from side to side. “Gorn, don’t crash into me! I’m just a train running on schedule! Don’t hit me! Spock, save me!” he mumbled, eyes squeezed shut. 

Suddenly—knock, knock, knock!—a sound came from the door. 

“No!” Sheldon yelped, bolting upright. He frantically patted himself down, and once he confirmed he was still in one piece, he let out a long, shaky sigh of relief. 

In his dream, he’d turned into a train engine, chugging along merrily with a cheerful choo-choo. Then, out of nowhere, a car pulled up beside him. Behind the wheel sat a monster with a crocodile head and a human body. One scaly hand rested on the window, its red eyes locked onto Sheldon, a menacing grin spreading across its face. With its other hand, it jerked the steering wheel, sending the car swerving toward the train as if to smash right into him. 

That creature? It was a Gorn, an alien from Star Trek—Sheldon’s favorite sci-fi show. Also, the star of his nightmares. 

The first knock hit just as the Gorn floored the gas, charging at him. The second knock brought its snarling face so close he could almost smell its stench. By the third knock, the Gorn’s car slammed into him full force. 

In a panic, Sheldon jolted awake from the nightmare. 

Knock, knock, knock! The pounding at the door didn’t let up. 

Scowling, Sheldon threw off his blankets, climbed out of bed, and shuffled toward the door. But then—pause. His annoyance melted into fear. He spun around and darted back to his bedroom. 

When he reappeared, he was clutching a short stick. With a press of a button, a red beam shot out—yep, a lightsaber, straight out of Star Wars. Gripping it like a lifeline, he crept to the door and peeked through the peephole. Outside stood a gentle-looking middle-aged woman. But he wasn’t fooled—behind her loomed a burly guy in a black suit. Suspicious. 

“Who is it?” Sheldon called out. 

“Is this Sheldon Cooper?” the woman asked. 

“Yes. Who are you?” 

“We’re security from Caltech,” she replied with a smile. “We’re here to escort you to the University of Chicago for an academic exchange. It’s urgent—we have to leave now. But don’t worry, we’ve got a motorhome ready so you can sleep on the way.” 

Sheldon didn’t doubt he deserved such treatment—naturally, he was a big deal. Still, he wasn’t buying it. “You say you’re school security. Prove it,” he demanded through the door. 

The woman held up a card with her photo to the peephole. “Here’s our campus access card.” 

With a creak, Sheldon eased the door open halfway, the chain still latched, and studied them with a look that screamed, You might be up to no good. “What about his?” he asked, nodding at the man. 

“Jon,” the woman prompted. The guy—Jon—sighed and pulled out his own ID, holding it up for Sheldon to see. 

“Satisfied?” she asked, still smiling. 

“Wait a sec,” Sheldon said. No way was he that easy to convince. He waved them off, slipped back to his bedroom, and rummaged through his wallet. Returning, he flashed a card at them. “This is my Justice League membership card.” 

Jon blinked. “Uh… what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Just because I have this doesn’t mean I know Batman,” Sheldon sneered. Fake IDs? Please. Did they think he was born yesterday? 

“You can call the campus security office—they’ll vouch for us,” the woman offered, grinning. “It’s like if you called Commissioner Gordon to prove you know Batman. Then everyone would believe you’re really in the Justice League and pals with the Dark Knight.” 

“You’ve seen Justice League?” Sheldon asked, his guard dropping just a hair. 

“My son’s obsessed with it, so I’ve watched my fair share,” she chuckled. 

“Hold on.” Sheldon retreated to the living room, grabbed his phone, and dialed the school’s security office. He interrogated them for ages, flipping their ID details every which way, tossing in trick questions to trip them up. His paranoia was on full blast. 

“Now do you believe us?” Jon grumbled after standing outside for over ten minutes, watching Sheldon finally hang up. 

“Absolutely… not!” Sheldon shook his head. “How do I know you’re not all in on it?” 

“Who’d waste their time on that?” Jon muttered, massaging his temples. 

“Oh, really?” Sheldon flashed a sly grin. “Hard to say. Terrorists? Spies from some shadowy nation? Aliens?” His eyes narrowed, boring into them as he tightened his grip on the lightsaber, ready to lunge. 

He couldn’t help it. Fresh off a dream where the Gorn attacked him, and now two strangers show up in the middle of the night to whisk him away? Way too fishy. What if it was an alien plot? He was, after all, the king of intellect—humanity’s last hope. If they nabbed him, Earth was done for. For the planet’s sake, he had to stay sharp. 

“So how can we convince you?” the woman asked, her smile turning weary. 

“That’s my line,” Sheldon shot back, waving his lightsaber, shoulders hunched, eyes wide. “What can you do to make me trust you?” 

“Alright, fine—we’ll come clean,” she said, throwing up her hands. “We’re not from campus security.” 

“Aha! I knew it!” Sheldon crowed. “You evil aliens, trying to kidnap me! Dream on!” 

“Actually,” she continued, “we’re professional security hired by your friend Adam Duncan to get you to the University of Chicago for your exchange. Don’t believe us? Call him.” 

“Adam?” Sheldon squinted, still skeptical. 

“Yep,” she nodded. 

It wasn’t her going off-script. Adam had warned her when he set this up. If Sheldon bought their cover, great. If not, just tell him the truth. Adam knew Sheldon too well—he’d seen this coming a mile away. He’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but, well, he’d underestimated his friend’s stubbornness. 

Chapter 456  

Peggy’s Apartment 

Adam and Peggy were deep in a heart-to-heart when the phone cut through the silence with its shrill ring. 

“Gotta be Sheldon—probably freaking out about that security thing again,” Adam said, snagging the phone and giving it a playful little shake at Peggy before picking up. 

“Hey, Sheldon.” 

“Who’s this?” Sheldon demanded, dead serious, even though he obviously knew Adam’s voice. 

“...Adam Duncan,” Adam replied, his mouth twitching slightly. 

“How do I know you’re really Adam Duncan?” 

Sheldon’s voice dripped with suspicion, paired with a smug, dismissive smirk. He acted like he was perched above the stratosphere, untouchable, and nothing could slip past him.  

“Remember that time in science class when Dr. Ronaldo Hodges from the Houston Johnson Space Center came to guest lecture? Our teacher invited him, he totally blew you off, and then you schooled him hard?” 

Adam tossed out the memory like it was no big deal. 

“Ha! I knew it—you’re aliens pretending to be Adam!” 

On the other end, Sheldon’s tone screamed ‘called it!’ “Adam doesn’t give a crap about that stuff. Only you aliens would obsess over Earth’s space program. 

Oh, wait—I designed that booster rocket recycling system, didn’t I? It’s gonna slash launch costs big time. Once it’s up and running, Earth’s space game will level up—huge threat to you extraterrestrials! That’s why you’re here to kidnap me, isn’t it?” 

“...” 

Adam’s eye twitched.

Anyone else who thought like that—and had the guts to say it—would’ve been carted off to a psych ward ages ago. 

Sheldon, though? He’d been mistaken for a nutcase more times than you could count. 

Like that night he broke into a playground and dove into the ball pit, swimming around like it was the freaking ocean. The security guard caught him and called Leonard. When Leonard showed up to apologize, the guard just waved it off: “No biggie, my cousin’s got a ‘special’ kid like that…” Leonard wanted to argue, but he bit his tongue. Then he spent half the night playing hide-and-seek in the ball pit, chasing Sheldon as he bobbed up and down like a manic submarine. 

Or that time Sheldon’s hair got shaggy, but his regular barber was stuck in the hospital. He wouldn’t let the guy’s nephew touch him—only his usual barber would do. So, he marched into the hospital with a pair of scissors, clicking them next to the comatose barber’s ear, hoping the familiar snip-snip would jolt the guy awake to give him a trim. A nurse walked in, pegged him as a runaway from the psych floor, and started cooing “sweetie” to keep him calm while she ran for security. Sheldon, pro that he is, pocketed the scissors and hightailed it out of there. One more second, and he’d have been strapped to a gurney for real. 

Emmm. 

That’s Sheldon—Adam’s good ol’ pal.

“Remember when…” 

Adam sighed, racking his brain for some tiny, random moments only the two of them would know. They both had photographic memories—sharp as a tack—so even the smallest, oldest stuff came back like it was yesterday. 

“Poor Adam,” Sheldon tsked, shaking his head. “You’ve got him under your thumb, huh? Scanned his brain with your memory-reading tech? If you hadn’t, how could he recall all that? He’s not me! Hmph, you’re not fooling me!” 

Adam wanted to fire back a snarky “Oh, come on!”—but, okay, Sheldon’s wild theory kind of held water.  

Most people’s smarts are set from birth. Back when Adam hung out with Sheldon, he was still sharpening his brain, nowhere near genius territory yet. To Sheldon, he was just some regular dude. So, could a regular dude pull up a random memory from years ago—scene, words, tone, expressions, all in HD? Nope. Sheldon’s paranoia wasn’t totally off-base. 

Adam, though, wasn’t normal—he was a transmigrator with a system, leveling up to a photographic memory even super geniuses might envy. How was that any different from aliens hijacking his brain with a memory reader? Which sounded crazier? It’s not like it was 2020, with Chinese transmigration novels flooding the U.S. Sure, Adam wrote Lord of the Mysteries, a transmigration story, but it had a golden finger, not a system. The whole “system transmigration” trope hadn’t hit the mainstream yet. So, yeah, Sheldon’s alien theory made sense in his head.  

“I…” 

Adam opened his mouth, then threw in the towel. “Fine, Peggy, you talk to him!” 

He flipped the phone to speaker mode. 

“Peggy?” 

Sheldon snorted. “It’s 2:23 AM in New York. How’s Peggy gonna chat with me? Still claiming you’re not aliens?” 

“Would aliens pull this off…” 

Peggy took the reins, diving into a rapid-fire exchange with Sheldon in their geeky, high-IQ math lingo. 

Adam’s brain checked out. He hadn’t tackled those theories yet—stuff that took history’s greatest minds their whole lives to crack. Even as a super genius now, he couldn’t just get it without serious study. Their convo was lightning-fast and loaded with jargon—total gibberish to him. 

They yammered on for a full thirty minutes. 

“Okay, fine, you’re Peggy,” Sheldon relented. “Aliens might snag memories, but they can’t hijack your brain. If they could, I’d be screwed anyway.” 

Then his tone shifted, curious. “But why are you with Adam at this hour?” 

“You don’t remember? It was your idea,” Peggy said with a grin. 

“My idea?” 

Sheldon paused, then lit up. “Oh, ohhh~ You mean you two are ******?” 

Adam’s mouth twitched. “Can you not use that word?” 

It was one of Sheldon’s favorites, but it grated like nails on a chalkboard. 

“Got it.” 

Sheldon pivoted without missing a beat. “So, you’re saying you two are @#?” 

“…” 

Adam gave up talking. God only knew what other cringe terms Sheldon had up his sleeve.

“Yup,” Peggy said, cool as ever. “And thanks to your tip, my math research is unstuck. The ideas just keep flowing. If this keeps up for a year, I might crack the complete conjecture.” 

“For real? It’s that good?” Sheldon marveled. 

“For me, yeah,” Peggy replied with a smile. 

“No way!” 

Sheldon’s jealousy kicked in. “I’ve gotta try it too!” 

“You? Want to try?” 

Sheldon—the guy who’d never budge—was suddenly curious. When Penny heard about it later, she was so floored she crushed a wine glass in her hand. Picturing that, Adam instinctively let go of whatever he was gripping. Then, after Sheldon’s next blunt ramble, 

Adam: “…”  

Chapter 457: It's Not Easy for Anyone 

Peggy's Apartment 

"Heh." 

After hearing what Sheldon said, Peggy burst out laughing. 

Meanwhile, Adam just stared blankly: "…(ω｀ll)" 

Luckily, Adam snapped out of it fast and fired back, "Aren't you missing a suffix or something?!" 

"Bazinga!" came Sheldon's voice from the other end of the phone. After a few seconds of silence, his cheerful laughter echoed through. 

Adam let out a long sigh of relief.

Sure enough, he’s just messing with me! 

But this wasn’t a joke he could play along with. 

"Hmm!" Peggy tried to keep poking fun at him, but Adam, quick as a flash, clapped a hand over her mouth. 

He chatted with Sheldon a bit more, reassuring him that the two security guys were his people and that Sheldon could trust them for the Chicago trip. Then, he hung up without hesitation. 

"What’s your deal?" Peggy asked, sounding a little annoyed. 

She only had two friends, and this was a rare chance for them all to vibe together and have some fun. And Adam just had to ruin it. 

"It’s just a little teasing," she grumbled. "Was that really necessary?" 

"It’s not what you think," Adam said with a wry smile. "I don’t mind, honestly. I just didn’t want you wasting your energy." 

No matter how much you say, I can’t hear it anyway. 

"And if you go on too long, all I’d hear is a bunch of beeping," he added. "That’s way too harsh on the ears." 

Peggy didn’t quite get the whole "unspeakable" thing he was hinting at, but seeing how pitiful he looked, she let it drop. 

Adam breathed another sigh of relief. 

Still not steady enough, he thought. Guess I’ll punish myself by copying the Stability Mantra three thousand times! 

In his mind, he pictured a starry sky, styled like the opening crawl of Star Wars. He started writing the Stability Mantra across it, complete with some epic background music. 

Four in the Morning 

The sky was still pitch black. 

Adam gave a sleeping Peggy a soft kiss on the forehead, made sure Lisa and the others had their instructions, and then drove off from New Jersey through a raging storm. 

Last night had been a chaos of lightning and thunder, with howling winds outside that made it feel like the end of the world. 

Adam had no doubt the hospital would be swamped today with patients injured by this insane weather. 

New York. Medical Center. Locker Room 

When Adam got there, Meredith, George, and Liz were already changing into their scrubs. 

Christina, though, was still rocking yesterday’s white coat. 

"You haven’t changed?" Adam asked with a grin. 

"Why bother?" Christina shrugged. "No time, no mood. I was out cold last night when they dragged me out of bed. Lightning hit a substation, and everyone stuck at the hospital had to jump in to move patients." 

"Doesn’t the hospital have backup generators?" Adam asked, surprised. 

"One works. The other’s been busted forever and never replaced," Christina complained. "It could only keep the operating rooms going, so we shoved all the ER patients in there." 

"That’s ridiculous," George muttered as he changed. "They know it’s broken and don’t fix it? What if something goes wrong?" 

"Go tell the director," Christina shot back with a smirk. "The budget had cash for a new generator, but the director nixed it to save money for another MRI machine." 

George clammed up real quick. 

"Oh, and that herniated disc patient?" Christina said, glaring at everyone. "He’s mine. Anyone tries to take him, and we’re done!"

"You mean Mr. Hunter Lamott? The guy who watches naughty nurse videos to deal with pain?" Adam’s eyes lit up. "He hasn’t had surgery yet?" 

"It was slated for yesterday," Christina said, locking eyes with him. "But with all that chaos, you think Dr. Shepherd had time for him? It’s today now. I’ve been with that patient since last night, so this surgery’s mine. Back off." 

"Who gets the surgery is up to Dr. Shepherd during rounds," Adam said, glancing at Meredith with a sly smile. "I’m not the one you should be worried about, right?" 

Meredith stayed stone-faced. 

"No, it’s you!" Christina snapped. "Meredith doesn’t care about this, so it’s just us two—" 

"Hey!" George cut in. 

"What, are George and I chopped liver?" Liz huffed. 

Christina gave them a look that screamed deal with it, then turned back to Adam. "You don’t know what I went through last night… If you’re still my friend, don’t fight me for this surgery." 

"Fine," Adam relented. Christina was dead serious, and he wasn’t about to bicker over one surgery. 

Now, if it was a procedure I’d never done before, that’d be a different story, he mused. Sometimes you’ve gotta stab a friend in the back for the greater good—like saving more patients. They might not get it now, but they’ll come around eventually. 

Hmm, you can’t always please everyone, right? 

"Thanks," Christina said, her face brightening. 

"Hang on, aren’t you forgetting something?" Adam blocked her path, smirking. "What did you do last night?" 

At that, George and the others perked up and stared. 

"Nothing," Christina mumbled, avoiding eye contact. 

"So you’re lying to me?" Adam said, deadpan. "Guess we’ll just fight for that surgery fair and square then." 

"Come on, spill it! What’s the big secret?" Liz laughed. 

"Yeah, tell us!" George egged her on. 

"Alright, alright!" Christina groaned, realizing they wouldn’t drop it until she fessed up. 

Turns out, after the power went out, Mr. Lamott couldn’t watch his pain-relief movies anymore and was in agony right away. 

His wife wasn’t there, and the nurses were too busy shuffling patients around to help him. 

Christina happened to walk by and checked on him. His blood pressure was spiking, and his pulse was racing—no way he was faking it. 

That’s when she stopped thinking he was just some creep. 

Those "art films" actually calmed him down and eased his pain. 

So, she started brainstorming ways to help. 

Painkillers? Nope, he was allergic. 

In the end, Christina had to turn into a storyteller, dramatically narrating the Oath of the Peach Garden from Romance of the Three Kingdoms to keep Mr. Lamott going until the power came back. 

"Pfft!" Once she finished explaining, Adam and the others lost it. 

"What did you do?" 

"Hahaha!" 

"Oh man, my sides!"

"Stop laughing!" Christina hissed, glancing at the other doctors changing nearby. "I was just doing my job as a doctor!" 

"Nah, you were totally doing a nurse’s gig," Adam teased with a wink, hinting at something cheeky. 

"Hahaha!" 

"Nurse Christina!" Liz and George cracked up again. 

"You’re the nurses!" Christina snapped, smacking Liz and George playfully. She shot Adam a death glare, then stormed out, slamming the door behind her. 

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