[ WP ] In the future , everyone downloads new skills straight into their brain . You have spent weeks/months/years learning a new skill , any skill , the old-fashioned way . Why ?

The waiting room is austere for the corporate headquarters. I suppose they save the good stuff for themselves. The secretary is busy typing on her keyboard. She probably has the Advanced Secretarial and Executive Assistant Package. It costs a fortune but the jobs are worth it if you can get one. 
 
 The plate on her desk reads Sarah Jenson, Assistant to the CEO. Out the window I can see most of the city and the sign on the building. **InstatTut** *We can teach you in an hour. * `` Mr. Carrol will sell you now,'' said Mrs. Jenson as she gestured to the double doors behind her. 
 
 The office was typical for a CEO, massive with a large desk and a sitting area to the side with a view of the city. A little better than than the view by Mrs. Jenson and a better view of the sign. I could see the logo of tiny concentric circles at the base of the brain. 
 
 Mr. Carrol was in the sitting area and stood to greet me. `` Leon, good to see you. I trust your flight and accommodations were suitable?'' 
 
 `` Yes, but why did you need me. The person on the phone was very vague and the money was good enough'' I said. 
 
 `` Did they have you sign the NDA?'' 
 
 `` Yes'' 
 
 `` Ok. When your father built the InstaTut the first thing he designed was a chip to help other engineers understand its workings and operation. Then he retired. For twenty years that has been sufficient to maintain the device. There is a limitation on the InstaTut chips.'' 
 
 `` That is well known. An advanced math chip will let you do math but does not let you develop new theories. You can only use what is on the chips,'' I said. 
 
 `` Yes, but that is not all. When you learn you make mistakes and you learn from those mistakes, hopefully, and those mistakes seem crucial to further learning. On top of that we have a generation of children that were raised only on these chips and have never made mistakes. Many of our engineers have not made mistakes in 20 years thanks to supplementing their knowledge with InstaTut chips.'' said Carrol 
 
 He looked at his hands and wrung them unconsciously and then flipped through the papers on his table. Finally he pulled out one large sheaf title *Device Issues and Error Report * `` The machine is failing. The chips it produces are failing QA at much greater percentages than a year ago. My engineers ca n't figure it out.'' 
 
 `` One of my older researchers figured out the link between mistakes, the chips, and learning only recently and he knew your father. He also knew that he swore to not let you be chipped and quit his job to teach you himself. Is that correct?'' 
 
 `` Yes,'' I replied. 
 
 `` And he trained you in the type of skills that would be relevant to the InstaTut,'' asked Mr. Carrol? 
 
 `` Yes, computer science and chip manufacturing. He even built his own facility so I could learn'' 
 
 `` We want to hire you to fix the InstatTut. Our whole business relies on it and we do n't have anyone who can even teach someone how to fix it except you. We will pay you $ 200,000 for a retainer and one million dollars if you can repair it,'' said Carroll. 
 
 Suddenly it all came together. My dad had forced me to negotiate prices with our suppliers and I had messed up a few times. I realized that I was his only hope and recalled that InstaTut make $ 10 billion dollars after taxes. 
 
 `` You will pay me one million dollars as a retainer and one billion dollars upon completion. That includes two years of support after completion to ensure the device is running as required.'' 
 
 Carrol's face was priceless. I suppose it was worth at least a billion dollars. `` We ca n't pay that. We can just get someone else.'' 
 
 `` Good luck getting another un-chipped engineer trained by the inventor and builder of your device. I reckon I could get financing to build another one once it becomes clear yours is not working. `` 
 
 It took a while but I got my price. Two months later the device was creating failed chips at a 65 % rate. They sent Mr. Carrol out to my house to personally beg me to work for them. In the mean time I had been disassembling the smaller version dad and I had built while he was teaching me. 
 
 I fixed their Device after about a year of work. Then I sold the prototype MiniTut to Apple who put it in all their stores. They paid me ten billion dollars. 
 
 I suppose 15 years of learning the hard way paid off.
