Chapter 9 Smart Teammates

The deadline for the submission of projects for the National Science and Technology Innovation Competition was less than a month away. Although Emberly had some ideas, she couldn't bring those ideas to life just yet. The competition allowed contestants to work in groups or individually. Emberly was yet to get a partner or even someone who would be willing to invest in her work. She was looking to find teammates and resources as soon as possible.

In her first life, she had heard about this competition. She remembered that winners usually went on to become popular and successful personalities. She never really thought of participating back then, for she wasn't really that bright at the time. She could only read and watch reports about the competition.

Under Hector's watchful gaze, Emberly took out her phone and operated it.

Hector couldn't scold her anymore. For the past few days, he had given her all kinds of math problems to solve. She solved every one of them, including the trickiest ones in no time. He had taken a liking to her because of her intelligence. The only thing he disliked about her was her lack of attention during his class. However, he looked past that because he intended to get her to participate in the math contest.

Shawn, who was sitting behind Emberly watched as she fiddled with her mobile phone with her head on her desk. He clicked his tongue and whispered to his friend, "Marcus, something doesn't feel right about this newbie. But I can't quite place my finger on it. It's said that she's a poor student from a remote village. Don't you think it's rather odd that she has a high IQ, can fight so well, and also has great knowledge about guns? Before that night, I didn't know that there was someone that excellent in this city."

A hint of contemplation flashed through Marcus's eyes. He had never seen anyone as excellent as Emberly even in Esabury, where he grew up. That was strange because there were a lot of talents in the capital city. For now, he was just happy that she wasn't one of his enemies.

Although Emberly remained the topic of discussion at school, she turned a deaf ear to all the gossips. She logged on to the National Science and Technology Forum and browsed through it. There were a lot of posts about the upcoming competition. It appeared that the competition was even more popular than she recalled.

Many prospects were seeking teammates just like her. In each of their proposals, they gave hints about their work and then listed their desired requirements for their teammates. It seemed like a good way to gain partners. After thinking this through, Emberly began to make her own post.

In Ontland University—one of the top universities in Usnary.

Timothy Harrison, a student who was majoring in power machinery and engineering was lying on his bed in the dormitory. He was browsing through the forum online. It was already his junior year and he had a lot of unfinished projects and papers to turn in at short deadlines, so he didn't have the time to join the competition. At least that was until he found out that the professor he looked up to, hammered on students having good scientific research experience and practices. Timothy wanted this professor to mentor him during his graduate studies, so he began to think that the upcoming competition would help him in his quest.

"Shocking! New Way to Operate a New-energy Vehicle!" Timothy read the first post out loud.

"New Type of Insulation Material Was Found!"

"In the 5G Era, What's the Future of 6G?"

"Exploration and Discovery of Space."

Timothy yawned tiredly. All the posts he came across were so boring.

"They're all rubbish!" He suffered a slight headache after reading more than ten boring posts.

"The Development and Application of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle."

Timothy's eyes suddenly fell on a new post. At first, he felt that this was just another boring post with a sensational headline. But when he read the first paragraph, his interest shot to the roof. He sat up straight immediately.

Timothy read the post three times just to be sure he wasn't dreaming. The post was precise and many parts of the idea seemed impossible to do, but the whole idea was brilliant. He felt in his guts that there was a considerable chance that it could be realized even though he didn't know how.

What genius came up with this idea? Was that person from this planet?

The post drew the attention of more than half of the forum's participants. They heaped praises on the poster. Many asked to team up with the poster.

Instead of sending a message to the forum, Timothy quickly DMed her. He noticed from her profile that she had only registered the account today. There was no profile picture and her ID was just a simple "Y". It made her more mysterious.

After hesitating for a while, Timothy hit the send icon. The message he sent read, "Hello, I'm a college student majoring in power machinery and engineering at Ontland University. I just saw your post on the forum. Your idea sounds amazing. I was wondering if you could do me the honors of discussing your idea in detail?"

Unbeknown to Timothy, the person he reaching out to was just a high-schooler.

On the other end, Emberly's phone had been vibrating off the hook since she made that post. Messages flooded into her inbox non-stop. Her eyebrows arched as she looked at the latest message.

Ontland University? Wasn't that one of the best universities in the country? Anyway, Emberly asked everyone that messaged her privately to solve two questions. She didn't think anyone would give her the exact answers she desired. However, she felt they could try their best since they weren't dullards.

Timothy was stunned when he saw her reply. She was really straightforward. In his opinion, people like this were either extremely conceited or very smart. Perhaps this person fell in the latter category.

Timothy went to sit at his reading table immediately. He didn't consider himself to be a genius, but the fact that he even got into Ontland University some years back proved one thing; He wasn't a dumbass!

He read the first question thrice. After pondering for about twenty minutes, he finally had some clues. He did the working on different pieces of paper over and over again. More than an hour later, he finally solved the first problem.

The second question was a hard nut to crack. Even though he studied it for an hour, he still didn't understand it, let alone know how to solve it. He had never seen anything like it. In the end, he gave up and decided to consult one of his pals.

Damien was a student of Computer Science at Ontland University. He was extremely good with codes and algorithm designs.

In the Supercomputing Center of the university, Damien was working when his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Timothy. Curiosity drove him to abandon his work and check out the message.

Thirty minutes later, Timothy, who was still anxiously waiting for Damien's reply, was shocked to receive a call directly from him. He was always the one doing the calling, for Damien was a mysterious fella who didn't like calls.

"Where did you get this problem?" asked Damien in a serious tone.

"Why do you ask? Have you solved it?"

After a moment of silence, Damien replied, "Not yet. The algorithm involved is too complicated. It would take ages to complete. Anyway, I can only give you a general idea."

Timothy couldn't believe his ears. He had never heard Damien speak in such an uncertain tone.

"Whoever created this problem is far better than me at dealing with computers." Damien had to admit that bitter truth.

No way! Was he for real?

Timothy swallowed hard and wiped the sweat on his forehead. "Well, it has to do with the upcoming competition. Someone on the Science and Technology Forum posted her idea bordering aerial craft. I reached out to her in hopes of working with her. She sent that problem to me." Timothy was breathing hard as if he just ran a marathon.

"Aerial craft? Send me the post."

Once Damien hung up the phone, he clicked on the link Timothy sent him. Even a talented geek like him couldn't help but marvel at this person. The poster was a genius!

He sorted out his thoughts and sent a message to Timothy.

"I'm in, too."

"Holy shit!" Timothy's eyes widened when he saw that message.

*

Back in Maybourn High, Emberly was still reading the numerous messages in her inbox. Some of the applicants had turned in their workings. All of them varied. She was already a little disappointed when Timothy's message dropped.

A satisfied smile appeared on her face when she read through his work. No wonder he was a student of such a prestigious university. He was indeed smart. She knew how difficult those questions were. Although Timothy's answer wasn't perfect, it was a nice try.

She texted him back, "Take a look at this. It's a detailed summary of my idea. Tell me what you think once you are done reading it." Her message was accompanied by a document.

Timothy took a deep breath. She had already come up with a detailed plan. So, they wouldn't need to do much? How interesting!

"How about we meet to discuss this in person? My friend and I are both in Esabury. What about you?" Timothy was itching to meet this person.

"I'm currently in Bluabert. Let's talk about it later." Emberly turned him down.

Her refusal didn't make Timothy feel disappointed. After all, there was still a chance to meet up in the future.

Now that they were acquainted, they exchanged numbers and then Timothy created a group chat so all three of them could talk online with ease.

When Damien heard that Y was in Bluabert, he remembered the genius girl he heard about the other day. He was supposed to go there some days ago, but something came up. He heard from Isaac that the girl never showed up at the Internet cafe after that day.

It seemed that Bluabert was a city of surprises.