Rainbows End

Failure Is an Option

At Fairmont High, final exams were spread across several days. There were some similarities with what he remembered of childhood. The kids were distracted by the upcoming holidays. Worse, the Christmas movie season was something that was beginning to pervade the various shared worlds they lived in.

But finals were different in one profound way from his experience in high school. For Robert Gu, these new exams were hard . It was not a foregone conclusion that he would max the tests and outdo everyone around him. The only similar situation from his past was in undergraduate school, when he had briefly been forced into real science courses. In those classes, he had finally met students who were not automatically his inferiors — and he had also met teachers who were not impressed by his genius. Once past the mandatory science curriculum, Robert had avoided such humiliation.

Until now.

Math and formal common sense. Statistics and data mechanics. Search and analysis. Even the S&A exam limited one's opportunity to go out on the net and use the intelligence of others. Though she taught collaboration, Chumlig had always droned about the importance of core competencies. Now all her mismatched platitudes were coming together in one hellweek of testing.

Right after the "common sense" exam, the Mysterious Stranger manifested himself. He was just a voice and a greenish glow. "Having trouble with the exams, my man?"

"I'll get by." In fact, the math had actually been interesting.

Miri — > Juan, Xiu: He's talking to someone again.

Xiu — > Juan, Miri: What is he saying?

Miri — > Juan, Xiu: I don't know. Local audio has gone private. Juan! Get out there.

Juan — > Miri, Xiu: You're not the boss of me. I was going to talk to Robert now anyway.

The Stranger chuckled. "At Fairmont High, they don't give automatic A grades, or even automatic passing grades. Failure is an option, but you — "

Relief was in sight. He saw Juan Orozco coming out of the class building, heading his way. The stranger continued," — and Juan Orozco are not certain F's. You're on a simplified curriculum. You should see the exams they're planning for your granddaughter."

"What about my granddaughter?" If the slimeball brought her into this —

But the voice did not reply.

Juan looked around questioningly. "Were you talking to someone, Robert?"

"Not about school things."

"Because I didn't see anybody." He hesitated, and letters coursed across Robert's view. Juan — > Robert: It's really important not to collaborate outside of the rules.

"I understand," Robert replied out loud.

"Okay." Clearly Juan didn't think Robert could pass all the tests. Sometimes it seemed like the poor kid was trying to protect him . "See," Juan continued, "the school uses a real good proctor service. Maybe there are some kids who can fool it, but there's a lot more who only think they can."

And then there's the Mysterious Stranger, who seems to have no trouble at all with security . The Stranger was so powerful, yet he still got pleasure from taunting Robert. Could it be some old enemy — someone a good deal brighter than Winnie Blount?

"Anyway, I think we have a chance for an A in our semester demo, Robert." The boy launched into the latest plans for using his writing together with manual music and Robert's network algorithms. It was the blind leading the blind, but after a few moments Robert was absorbed in it.

Things were very tense around the house, and it had nothing to do with final exams. In point of fact, Robert's midnight fracas at the front bathroom amounted to a physical assault. Never mind that he'd been trying to protect Alice — that was scarcely something he could claim. This time there were no threats, no showdowns. But Robert could see an uneasiness in Bob's eyes that hadn't been there before. It was the look of a fellow who begins to wonder if the snake he's been keeping might actually be a black mamba. That conclusion would get Robert shipped to Rainbows End faster than any mere boorishness.

Miri gave him a clue as to why this hadn't happened. She caught up with him one afternoon as he wandered around West Fallbrook hoping for contact with some friendly form of Sharif.

Miri rode her old bike along beside him for a few paces, matching his speed, and wobbling wildly. Finally she hopped off and walked the bike. As usual, her posture was schoolmarm straight. She looked at him sideways for a moment. "How are your finals going, Robert?"

"Hi Miri. How are your finals going?"

"I asked first! Besides, you know my finals don't start till after the break." Her ebullient bossiness seemed to collide with diplomacy. "So how are you doing?"

"It looks like I'm going to get a C in math."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry."

Robert laughed. "No. That's good news. I wouldn't have even understood the problems, back before the Alzheimer's."

She gave him a sickly smile. "Well, that's okay then."

"Hmm. A… friend… of mine told me that the kids in your classes are really good at these things."

"We know the tools."

"I think I could be a lot better in math," said Robert, almost to himself. "It might even be fun." Of course, if his real plans for the next few days worked out, he would have his poetry back and none of this would matter.

This time Miri's smile was happier. "I'll bet you could! You know… I could help you on that. I really like math, and I have all sorts of custom heuristics. Between semesters I could show you how to use them." Her voice slipped into leader mode as she planned out his vacation for him. That's the Alice in her , thought Robert. He almost smiled. "Hold on, there's still finals to get through." And he thought about Juan's latest demo plans. The boy was doing okay. It was Robert who was having trouble with his part, the graphics and the interfaces. "That's where I really need help."

Miri's face snapped around, "I will not help you cheat, Robert!"

They both stopped and stared at each other. "That's not what I meant, Miri!" Then he thought about what he had actually said. Christ. In the old days I insulted people all the time, but I knew when I was doing it . "Honest. I just meant that finals are a problem, okay?"

Lena — > Miri, Xiu: Be cool, kiddo. Even I don't think Robert's messing with you.

Xiu — > Lena, Miri: This is a first for you then.

Miri glared at him for a second more. Then she made a strange sound that might have been a giggle. "Okay. I should have known a Gu would not cheat. It's just that I get so mad at some of the kids in my study group. I tell them what to do. I tell them not to cheat. And yet they are always chiseling at the collab protocols."

She started walking again, and Robert followed along. "Actually," she said, "I was just making conversation. I have a mission, something I should tell you."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Bob wants to send you out-of-state. He figures you tried to beat up Alice." She paused, as if waiting for some defense.

But Robert only nodded, remembering the look in Bob's eyes. So Rainbows End was too close by. "How long do I have?"

"That's what I want to tell you, not to worry. You see — " It turned out that his rescue came from an unlikely source, namely Colonel Alice herself. Apparently, she hadn't felt the least bit threatened by him. "Alice knew you were just desperate, I mean — " Miri made a verbal dance of avoiding insult and gross language: Basically, Alice already thought he was a crazy old man. Crazy old men have to go to the bathroom all the time; they get overly focused on that problem. Furthermore, Alice didn't regard his manhandling of her as assault. Robert remembered how sore his head was after he tripped over her feet and slammed into the doorjamb. Black-belt whatever must be one of Alice's myriad JITTs. Alice was the dangerous one. Poor Alice, poor Bob. Poor Miri.

"Anyway, she told Bob that he was overreacting, and you really need your schooling here. She says you can stay as long as your behavior is…" Her voice dwindled into silence, and she looked up at him. She couldn't figure how to pass on the rest diplomatically: as long as you don't blast my daughter again .

"… I understand, Miri. I'll be good."

"Well. Okay." Miri looked around. "I, um, I guess that's all I had to say. I'll let you get on with… whatever you're doing. Good luck with finals."

She swung back on her bike and pedaled industriously away. That old bike had only three speeds. Robert shook his head, but he couldn't help smiling.

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