"Alright students, bring out the projects you've done on your table. The leader of your group would demonstrate the capabilities that your robots have done. If you impress me, I would give your group big scores.
The students began chattering happily and placed their robots on the table. James stared at Ana, who was still on her seat looking for something in her bag.
"James, where are the people in your group?" The teacher asked as she panned over the class. "There's Ana over there. I told her to buy the batteries that would power the android we made together."
The teacher almost snorted at the mention of an android. She could not help but smile at James confidence. "Alright, that's good. Where's Nathan?" James looked over at the class but did not find Nathan. Obviously, he hasn't arrived at school.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in class." James said. Ever since he dared Nathan to build their project himself, he didn't know that he would take it seriously. Although he knew that it would not be him that would create it anyways.
"If Nathan is not here by the next... five minutes, he would be disqualified from the points I would give to the class. He would fail this class", the teacher said sternly, before standing in front of the class.
The teacher began, giving a few speeches about how they did great, and that everyone was the same no matter what they did. Amidst her speech, James mind was turning like an engine.
He was thinking about the AI project he was doing. He hasn't activated it for a whole day. Even if he did, it would damage his desktop computer. James wanted to counter that problem by learning how to build the basic components of the CPU. He started with the hard drive because it appeared to be the simplest structure of a computer.
If things go as planned, he would move over to learning the components of a computer's RAM (Random Access Memory). The hardest to recreate was the CPU, which was the brain of the computer. Even with his unique ability, he cannot learn it even if gave himself six months.
Just then, Nathan walked in. He pretended that he didn't see the teacher and carried himself to his seat like he owned the world. James slowed down his thoughts and stared at Nathan who was holding a large package, obviously the project he apparently made.
"Alright, now that we are complete, let's begin. We are going to start from this row." She said as she pointed to the row closest to the door. Then two female and one male student stood up and went to the class. After placing the robot on the floor, the male student brought out an apple and place it on the floor. Then they switched on the robot.
"Teacher, with the nature of our project, we had to use our smartphones to make it work. If you don't mind, we would use our phones now." The male, who was the leader of his group, said as she brought out his Ipad.
Soon after he connected to the robot, he tapped a button, the robot's eyes glowed, and it slowly moved to the apple that was in its front. A moment's later, it grabbed the apple with its claws and slowly headed back to the male student, and stretched out its claws to hand the apple back to him.
After the demonstration, the who class applauded, including James. He was genuinely happy at the group's work. Soon after, the teacher called the second group, and they both displayed their project and its capabilities.
Meanwhile, Nathan was glaring at James with hatred in his eyes, but James was oblivious. He kept looking at the robot that was being demonstrated. This group didn't do much.
They simply made a robotic arm and body, then made a simple app that displayed the face and controlled the robot's arm. It looked very unique. James raised his brows with interest.
Clearly, this group thought outside the box. Instead of building the same concept of a robot that others were doing, they created something that was not only simple to do, but innovative. It was capable of changing its voice, performing complex movements, and even cracking jokes. Clearly, it performed better than the rest, mainly because it was connected to the cloud.
After the demonstration, the whole class cheered loudly. James gave them a round of applause, smiling. Suddenly, he felt the urge to look back. When he turned around and look, he noticed that Nathan was giving him a death stare.
That action jolted James a little. What was up with this guy? Just then, his group was called. James stood up with Ana and headed to the front of the class, but Nathan was still rooted to his seat.
"Nathan, are you not in their group?" the teacher asked. Nathan shook his head a little. "I am not coming to the front of the class if it is that junk they are going to demonstrate", he said slowly.
The teacher appeared surprised. "Did you build a robot by yourself? Nathan, I told you that you should join James and Ana in building the project together. I thought we discussed this", the teacher scolded angrily.
"Yes, we did teacher. However, when we were discussing with them, James suddenly dared me to go build their project myself. I was shocked as to why he said that, but he told me in my face that I could not do anything better. So I had no choice but to do it myself."
Nathan statement caused the whole class to gasp in shock. Clearly, everyone knew he was lying. The teacher knew Nathan so well, but she didn't pursue the matter further. She sighed and looked at Nathan. "Alright Nathan, if you think your project is better than James and Ana's, come to the front and demonstrate."
Nathan curled his lips and glared at James. "And if it was better, you'll give me better scores than, them," he said still intently staring at James. "That's not how it works Nathan. There was a reason why I grouped you in three's so that you would work together, but obviously, you chose to do what you like. What do you think would happen if I reported this to your parents? If you don't want to incur my anger, come to the front and demonstrate." The teacher said increasingly angry.
Nathan's demeanour, but he quickly brushed it off and walked to the class proudly. When he arrived at the front, he opened the package, revealing a sci-fi looking robot with what looked like lasers on his shoulder.
"Let's see if your pathetic robot beats that" Nathan whispered to James smugly.