Linh hugged him. Her warmth and caring were unexpected tools in battle, but Matty couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by them. Either she was going for the jugular, or maybe she really did care about him.
“I don’t believe it,” she said.
“What?”
“I saw you and Coop at the party. I just don’t believe it was all a trick.”
“Coop admitted to it.”
But she wasn’t convinced. The way she stared at Matty told him she knew he wasn’t completely convinced either.
“We can talk about it if you want,” she said. Maybe she was genuine, but Matty couldn’t tell for sure. And now definitely was not the time to spill his feelings.
“I’m fine. I’m focused on this.” He nodded at the competition, the packed crowd. This was his future.
Marathon rolled forward to the center of the room, hushing everyone. His head lit up with different colors. Even though he was all metal and wires, Matty saw personality in him.
Professor Chertok followed after Marathon and stood beside his creation. “Welcome, everyone. Quite a crowd for a Monday morning.” He studied the nervous faces of Matty and his classmates. “I cannot wait to see what you’ve come up with for Marathon.”
Marathon reacted, which consisted of him making abeep-boopnoise. Apparently, Professor Chertok watched a lot ofStar Wars.
The professor ran the contest alphabetically. That put Matty as the third person to go. Each participant was to insert a thumb drive into Marathon to make him run. It reminded Matty of when Neo’s mind was loaded with a Kung Fu program inThe Matrix.I know Kung Fu.Matty rubbed his lucky Texas flash drive in his fingers.
The first person was Linh. Her fingers shook slightly as she inserted the thumb drive. In that moment, he wanted her program to be a success. Not a bigger success than his, but still a success. Because she was his friend. His anger and paranoia couldn’t block that fact from being true. She cared about him. It was a new feeling for Matty, one he could get used to.
Marathon picked up a piece of paper next to Linh’s computer and methodically folded it into a swan. “My program can have robots create origami. The algorithm tells Marathon how to fold and crease the paper and lets him identify the angles needed to create the swan.” The swan was a perfect specimen of origami. Linh basked in the applause.
“Very nice,” Professor Chertok said. Nice was not a word an engineer wanted to hear. Nice was what a teacher said to a kindergarten student who traced his hand with crayon and called it art.
“Tell me, Linh, what purpose do you see for this algorithm?” Professor Chertok held up the swan. “This is a very nice swan, but I’m curious what real world applications you imagined for this process.”
“Well, I think…Origami is a form of art, and it can be used in cultural centers and children’s museums. It can also be used in classrooms. Schools are cutting arts programs across the country to save money. If we could create an art robot, that would be a cost-efficient way to bring art into these kids’ lives. ”
“Yes, art is nice.” There was that word again. “And folded swans are fun. But I just don’t see the greater, scientific purpose here.”
She was sinking, and friends didn’t let friends sink. Before giving it another thought, Matty stepped forward.
“Origami has been shown as effective therapy for people recovering from hand surgery, helping them rebuild those muscles. So this robot could lead classes at physical therapy centers.”
“Interesting.” The professor studied the swan.
Matty stepped back behind the table, and the look Linh gave him nearly caused his heart to melt. He couldn’t hide his smile.That’s what friends are for.
The next student to go was one who didn’t talk much in class. She loved chewing gum, a thrill for her since most high schools banned it. She plugged her computer into Marathon and placed a crumbled up gum wrapper on the floor. Marathon proceeded to lean down and pick it up.
“I want to create a series of robots that can pick up trash and beautify the sides of highways and parks. They can identify what is trash and what is part of the surroundings by weight and analyzing material makeup.”
“You’re going to put a lot of convicted felons out of the job,” Professor Chertok said, and nobody could tell if that were a joke or not. Matty wondered what the professor was like when he was younger. Did he have friends? Was high school just as awful for him as it was for Matty?
“You nervous?” Kelvin slapped Matty’s back hard, making him jump up in surprise and drop his flash drive.
“Leave me alone, Kelvin.”
“Look, I didn’t mean to spill all that yesterday.” Kelvin had the fake-sincere thing down pat. Matty wondered how many times he used it on his parents to get more money or a new car or out of punishment. “It was the heat of the moment.”
“I’m sure it was.” Matty squatted down to search the floor for his flash drive.
Kelvin tapped him on the shoulder. He held up the flash drive. “It hit my shoe.” Matty checked for the “Don’t Mess with Texas” logo. “See, I’m not all bad, Matty. I’m going to stop talking and let you have this moment.”
