"It just goes against what I've been taught," Solomon replied.  "He's also attributed with the creation of the first Quantums."

"That can't be right," Israfil interjected, "The race wars are almost a century ago, and Quantums were invented before then.  The Cadmus Reactor and cogs were only developed recently."

"Well that's the thing," Solomon replied, "people say that Dr. Stern had an unusually long life, even for an Ascended.  No Wildtype could live that long."