Coop brushed some of Matty’s hair out of his face. His eyes seemed to hold something back, but before Matty could focus attention on it, Coop kissed him.
“I’m thinking I’m lucky I found you.”
They lay there for a while longer before drifting asleep. Matty hadn’t slept-slept with anyone before. He never had to share a room with a sibling or a college roommate. He worried that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, but Coop’s heartbeat and his cocoon-like arms nestled Matty into a deep slumber. When he woke up, he didn’t know what time it was, just that the sun was shining and Coop was still there.
* * *
Kids wavedhello to Matty in class. The kids he talked to at Kelvin’s apartment shared his workstation, even though there were empty tables available. Linh sat next to him and gave him a light nudge with her elbow. These were such little actions, but they made him feel a part of something.
“What do you think he’s thinking?” She asked Matty. Up front, Professor Chertok paced in front of the projector.
“The next technological breakthrough,” Matty said.
Professor Chertok scanned the room with a watchful eye. Matty didn’t know what he was looking for, but he felt a sense that nobody had it.
“In robotics, we are constantly innovating and changing previously-held assumptions. We always have to keep moving. No progress is made standing still. Hence why I am walking back and forth as I say this.
“I’ve realized that I need to update how I run this class. It used to be that the student with the top grade at the end of the quarter would get the sophomore research slot in my lab. But I’ve been wondering how effective that method really is. Tests examine knowledge, but not action. Not practical skills.”
Matty wasn’t sure where he was headed, but he didn’t like the direction. He gulped back dryness overtaking his throat.
“So starting now, the top student in class will not get the research position.”
Students looked at each other in shock. Mouths hung open. Matty was having all of those reactions internally, but to his classmates, he made sure to be a stone wall.
“Instead, I want to test your skills and your practical thinking. For the robotics lab to thrive and keep making breakthroughs, we need innovators. To that end, we are going to have a competition to decide who gets the slot.” He exited through the back door and seconds later wheeled out a robot that looked like stacked mini fridges on a dolly.
“This is Marathon,” Professor Chertok said. “He is an old robot that was in action a few years back. Marathon needs something to do. Each of you will be tasked with designing an algorithm to program into Marathon. The more complex, the better. In three weeks, we will all show off our final designs, and the other researchers in the robotics lab will judge. Whoever wins will get the research slot. Because then, I will know you’ve truly earned this space.”
“We’re supposed to create a whole functioning robotics program in three weeks?” Kelvin asked.
“Not quite, Mr. Zhang. You need to program at least one complex action for Marathon. Three weeks is plenty of time. Maybe too much time.”
“And no matter what our grades are, if we win, we get the research slot?”
“Mr. Zhang, I suggest you bring a tape recorder to class. That way you can save me the trouble of repeating myself.”
Matty stared at his desk. His mind scrambled with ideas. He knew what everyone in class was thinking. That slot could be theirs. They had a chance to topple Matty. Three weeks. That was it. Three weeks of working your butt off could get you a slot in one of the most prestigious robotics labs in the country. He saw the looks on their faces. He knew the war was back on.
“Interesting,” Linh said, and Matty thought he detected some edge in her voice, as if she were already plotting. “Not what I was expecting.”
His mind drifted to brainstorming ideas for the competition. He couldn’t let this internship slip out of his fingers.
After class, Professor Chertok came up to Matty’s desk and asked to speak to him for a moment. Marathon rested in sleep mode next to the podium.
“I was pleasantly surprised to have a student that could pass my tests without the help of a curve. It doesn’t happen often. But it seems like that beginning magic has faded. I’ve been surprised by your latest grades.”
Matty stumbled for an answer. “I guess the material is getting more difficult.”
The professor nodded, but neither of them bought that answer.
“I was never a fan of the curve. I wish I could give my students their real grades, but they would revolt and the administration would never let their class of engineers graduate with C-averages. It would hurt the students’ chances at getting into graduate programs, which would hurt Browerton’s rankings. It’s all part of a vicious, corrupt cycle.” The professor was talking to the distance as much as he was to Matty.
“I’ll try harder.” His classmates hated him for ruining the curve, and now his professor was upset with him for keeping the curve intact.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of trying. I’ve seen what you’re capable of. It’s a matter of priority. Do you know priority was never meant to have a plural form? The word ‘priorities’ only came into existence in the 1940s, but it’s grammatically incorrect.”
“Right.” Matty felt like he was getting yelled at even though Professor Chertok kept his voice calm, which was even scarier.
