Decision Theory

If you didn't want the truth, you shouldn't have asked me;

if you're looking for sugar-coating, eat a beignet.

The door blasted open, and a thunderous explosion reverberated through the cramped room, followed by bone-shaking thuds. Rusty's mind reeled as he struggled to comprehend the surreal scene unfolding before him. How in the world was this even possible? A squad of towering, heavily armed men brandishing automatic weapons had violently stormed into his bedroom!

Just eight hours earlier, Randolph Alexander James III (Rusty) was spending quiet time alone in his bedroom at home. He still lived with his parents in a home located in Marblehead, Massachusetts, right on the Salem Sound. His parents were successful lawyers and traveled worldwide, working on international business cases. The oversized home has been part of their family since the 1900's. Since leaving MIT, Rusty never left his adequately sized bedroom, which had everything he needed.

In the cavernous expanse of his solitude-filled mansion, Monday unfolded with an eerie hush – a symphony of silence that echoed the perpetual emptiness of Rusty's home. The absence of his absentee parents and his status as an only child reinforced the haunting notion that he was an unwanted anomaly, a mistake etched into the fabric of his existence. Ms. Finch, the custodian of his parents' affairs, dictated the rhythm of Rusty's life. Having emerged from an elite preparatory school, he embarked on a journey through the hallowed halls of MIT, immersing himself in the realms of Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making. His brilliance shone through, propelling him toward a coveted Doctor of Science (ScD) degree. However, discord brewed between Rusty and the academic hierarchy as they failed to recognize the profound connection he saw between Solitaire and Time Travel. To Rusty, the impasse reflected the incompetence of his instructors, a flaw he couldn't resist highlighting. His theory, a tapestry weaving the Rollout Method, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Methods, Bellman's Applied Dynamic Programming, and The Solitaire Principle, was a testament to his dissent. Departing the institution six months ago, he felt akin to a mad scientist, yearning to scream, "You Fools!" into the void of misunderstood brilliance.

In the early hours of Monday, Rusty found himself immersed in his third cup of Kopi Luwak, the rich brew fueling his exploration of the Solitaire Principle. As he delved into the realms of optimization, an unsettling realization dawned – genuine optimization bore a strange, almost transgressive appearance. His pursuits transcended the mundane; he'd deciphered how to outsmart the stock market, a feat untainted by the shadow of congressional impropriety. Money, an inconsequential concern given his family's wealth, played no role in Rusty's ventures. With an unrestricted bankroll, he effortlessly predicted global election outcomes. Applying his revolutionary theory to spacecraft design's Guidance and Control equations, he ensured a vessel impervious to the whims of fate. Yet, a revelation unfolded with the latest computer run – the tantalizing prospect of manipulating these equations for time travel. Only one missing link remained – the motion for such temporal journeys. Unfazed, Rusty employed his optimized search engine, delving beyond the DarkWeb into classified technological archives to pursue propulsion technology. Fear was a stranger to him, for he had traversed this path countless times before.

Eight hours into his research, Rusty's eyes widened at the screen. A peculiar link echoed familiar words – his own words. His unpublished doctoral proposal was nestled on the DarkWeb, a clandestine repository for the digital elite. Someone other than him had appropriated and distorted his work with undisciplined and sloppy conclusions, leaving Rusty bewildered. He urgently initiated the download of every document in this folder, discovering a hidden folder ominously labeled 'Propulsion.' The transfer would take about twenty minutes. "Time enough for another cup of Kopi Luwak," Rusty muttered aloud. As the coffee brewed, his parents' security system blared. Alarmed, Rusty accessed the home alarm dashboard, greeted by the chilling sight of multiple black SUVs converging on his residence. Panic surged through him like liquid oxygen. His phone's sudden ring snapped him out of his trance, and with trepidation, he answered, resigned to the impending catastrophe.

The voice crackled through the phone, "Hi Rusty, this is Charon. If you value your life, heed my words. Escape through the concealed servant's passages, following the basement tunnels, and reach the shoreline. A boat awaits, your only lifeline. Go swiftly or face oblivion. Good Luck." Rusty, desperation engulfing him, obeyed the cryptic instructions. Charon's motive puzzled him – if capture was the goal, why reveal the secret passages? The enigma deepened as he pondered Charon's uncanny knowledge.

In a final act of defiance, Rusty hit the panic button, obliterating his digital trail and annihilating his computer setup. Leaving the cup of Kopi Luwak as a parting gift, he monitored his room through his phone's camera while sprinting through the underground passages. Aghast, he witnessed his bedroom door explode open as a squad of towering, heavily armed men wielding automatic weapons stormed in, their ominous presence shattering the sanctuary he had just vacated.

As Rusty staggered to the shoreline, trembling limbs carrying him into the sanctuary of the promised boat, an inexplicable surge of memory conjured a haunting quote from the depths of his college professor's wisdom. "Beware, for those who have brushed even momentarily against the realm of digital computers know all too well the treacherous nature of seemingly elegant solutions. It is a perilous journey, where one must tread with caution, for until every fragment of a numerical solution is meticulously scrutinized and tested in the crucible of practice, one cannot fathom the lurking threats. The specters of accuracy, stability, storage, and time lie in wait, ready to cast a sinister shadow over the pursuit of a comprehensive resolution. Only through the relentless ordeal of scrutiny can one hope to unveil the true nature of these solutions, for in the digital domain, the line between triumph and catastrophe is drawn with the ink of vigilance."