"Achoo!"
"What happened?" I asked
"Nothing... This air conditioning is too cold, it's making me sneeze..."
Olivia blew her nose.
"It would be bad if you caught a cold", I moved my head to her forehead just to check if she had a fever
At this point in time, we were on a flight from New York to Chicago. My sister was supposed to wait for us at the airport. Contrary to myself, she already had a driver's license, but I never wanted to find out what kind of driver she was.
2 hours or so later, the plane landed in Chicago and we made our way out of the airport.
"I think that's your sister," Olivia remarked, pointing her finger to the right. I had previously shown her pictures of my sister, and it appeared that she had a good memory.
My sister was posted up next to a sleek Hyundai, and it was fitting her style just right. She was a brunette rocking a petite frame.
Olivia and my sister flashed enthusiastic grins.
"Hey there," they chimed together, with Olivia throwing out a friendly hand toward my sister.
Stepping into the mix, I made the introductions, keeping it casual "Kaya, this is Olivia, my girl."
And then I continued, "And Olivia, meet my sister, Kaya."
It was evident that Olivia was trying to leave a good impression on Kaya, and her warm demeanor was setting a viby tone for our time in Chicago.
In front of us was a 30-minute ride through the busy streets, after putting our stuff in the small trunk of the car, the atmosphere in the car was a bit uncomfortable, but Olivia quickly found a topic.
"So, I heard you're studying at the college in Chicago, Kaya," Olivia kicked off, her curiosity on full display, "But I've never asked—what's your major?"
Kaya's eyes lit up with pride as she shot back, "I'm studying Psychology, and I've even dropped a book already." Her grin was infectious.
"My sister here can be a bit full of herself," Kaya glanced my way, "Hey, keep your eyes on the road! I didn't even finish... she's proud, but she's got the smarts to back it up. Top of her major every semester and she's got some real achievements under her belt."
Olivia nodded, totally getting it. "That's awesome! So, you wanna be an author?"
Kaya's passion oozed out as she replied, "Absolutely. I'm all about diving into the human mind and penning it down. By the way, Max, you could be an interesting case study. What's been up with you the past few weeks? You were kinda stupid the last time we met."
"Hey, I'm not the one who created a Reddit account!", I defended myself
"Ey! That's crossing the line!"
"Hahaha! I'm seeing some similarities between you two," Olivia chimed in with a laugh.
The streets next to the apartment where my family lives were jam-packed with cars, but my sister skillfully parallel-parked in a tight spot with the small car. Anything bigger than that Hyundai would never fit.
We rang and the front door opened.
"Yo Darling! Our son is back!", when my father saw me he immediately yelled. - "You must be Olivia! Come in, come in..."
What followed was a heartwarming reunion with my mom, complete with tight hugs and happy tears. The smell of a mouthwatering dinner, whipped up mostly by my pops, wafted through the apartment. Even though my mom was blind, she always insisted on throwing a little somethin' into the mix.
But for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all a bit meh. It was like I was going through the motions but feeling kinda zoned out. Don't get me wrong, I played it cool like a regular Joe, but deep down, it all felt a bit phony, like some straight-up scripted scene.
"Max, how was the meeting?", my father stood up and asked while putting some lamb meet on Oliv's plate
"As good as it gets"
"So are they gonna pay for your studies?"
"Not only that, but I will also be getting money for food and other stuff", I said nonchalantly and my father paused for a second, before sitting back down. The relieved expression on his face was a sight to see. I had just lifted a huge burden off of his back after all.
"Also, I'll be flying out to London in 6 weeks" I dropped the bombshell.
"What?!", Olivia's eyes widened in confusion
"It seems that even your girlfriend doesn't know about this?", My mom didn't need to see to understand the situation.
"Yeah... "
"I always wanted to ride the wheel in London, and now Max is the first one to get there..." - Kaya sighed
"When did you want to tell me Max, and why are you even going there?", Olivia asked
"I'll be heading to London for a Math Olympiad as part of the MIT team," I explained.
"HUHU! This is getting interesting... are you the next Einstein or something?" Mike, who had been sitting quietly up to that point, couldn't resist chiming in
At that moment, Oliv shot me a strange look. I'm pretty sure that the last time I talked with her about my sudden surge of intelligence she didn't believe me. And now it was dawning on her that something truly strange was happening with me.
We sat there for a while. My family members were trying to take in everything that had been happening to me.
After dinner, my mother spoke up, "Olivia, as you can see, I can't, but I can hear that you're a stunning young lady, it's nice that my son finally found someone."
Oliv didn't know what to do, she held in the urge to chuckle and got a bit embarrassed. "Thank you", The comment was definitely a bit cringy.
With dinner wrapped up, we bounced to a guest room to have some quality time. If you know what I mean.
Over the next week, I put my Math Olympiad preparation on pause and went all in on getting the Weather Prediction App on the market to start making some cash.
To bring up my AI's accuracy even higher, I dug into Bayesian statistics. I captured the uncertainties in meteorological data by the implementation of Bayesian Hierarchical Models.
This allowed me to make predictive intervals that covered a whole range of possible weather scenarios, making my app rock-solid and super informative for the users.
Finally, I tapped into the PT-GAI's arsenal to whip up a Chat Bot, dishing out responses so human-like that it would make you do a double-take, serving up forecasts custom-tailored to what the users were after.
I used Kotlin for the front end and quickly got it working on Android devices. Ask it anything, and it'd hit you back with a data feast, all neatly laid out in easy-to-read graphs, spelling out the chances of everything in plain language.
I took some inspiration from my dreams, making the theme colors shades of blue and green.
I gave it some finishing touches and it was time to create a Google Dev Account and check out the offers when it comes to publishing an App for Android.
"GAI Weather"
- Free Plan: 0$/month - "1 Query Per Day, Limited Data"
- Silver Plan: 9$/month - "Up to 30 Queries Per Day"
- Gold Plan: 29$/month - "Up to 150 Queries Per Day"
- Enterprise Plan: "Companies above 1M$ yearly revenue, please contact to agree on a price"
The plan was to make use of in-app transactions. 1 query per day was the free plan. I needed to get people engaged and buzzing about it, after all.
I recognized the importance of playing it smart from the get-go. So, as soon as I launched it to the market, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work on a patent application, particularly focusing on the underlying statistics framework.
While I wished I could patent the AI itself, I couldn't swing it since the algorithms were already in the public domain.
The initial few days didn't yield any buyers, though I did manage to rack up a few downloads. It seemed like my app wasn't catching fire just yet. Meanwhile, there was something else on my plate that week. I left the apartment and went straight for the driver's education center.
I had a practical driver's exam scheduled in just two weeks, which didn't leave me with much time to prepare. Still, I couldn't help but feel strangely confident about it.
As I approached the training area, I spotted a woman who was supposed to be my instructor. Her name tag read "Lisa," and she greeted me with a warm smile.
"Hey there, I'm Max," I said, extending my hand for a friendly shake. "I've been looking forward to this."
"Nice to meet you, Max," Lisa replied with a friendly tone, shaking my hand. "So, you're the guy that's into the manual way, huh? That's cool. Well, let's get right into it."
For some reason my heart was set on the manual transmission—there was something undeniably cool about it. And I felt like it would be more challenging this way.
Lisa then gestured towards the Audi we would be using for the lesson and began to explain the various elements under the hood. She lifted the front hood, revealing the engine bay. "Now, let's take a look at what's under the hood," she said, pointing to the engine components.
She continued pointing out the battery and the fuse box going at a fast pace. She talked about the radiator, the serpentine belt, and the alternator.
She shifted her focus to the air conditioning compressor and two additional crucial elements - The engine oil dipstick and the brake master cylinder as well as the steering fluid reservoir and the windshield washer fluid reservoir.
"Max, you need to know the locations of these components and their functions for the theoretical exam, and it'll serve you well on the road. I will give you some papers later for you to learn from."
"No need. I remembered it all already."
"Yhym... Of course"
"No, but actually thought." - I started pointing to all the elements and explaining their use -
"Here's the engine block, the heart of the car. And over here, is the air filter, which helps keep the engine breathing clean air. This is the car's battery, providing the electrical juice, and here's the fuse box, with all the electrical fuses that protect various systems in the car."
"Here is the engine oil dipstick, it helps monitor the oil levels and condition. And here's the brake master cylinder, responsible for transmitting the force from the brake pedal to the brake calipers."
...
Lisa's POV
'Bruh...'
'I go fast as fu*k on purpose so that the kids don't feel too confident before driving the car, and this guy is just randomly an expert'
...
I pointed to the radiator, saying, "That's the radiator, it keeps the engine cool. I need to monitor the coolant levels to prevent overheating."
"Over here, is the serpentine belt, which powers multiple engine accessories, and this is the alternator, which charges the battery while the engine runs."
"And here is the power steering fluid reservoir, which assists with steering, and this is the windshield washer fluid reservoir, for a clear view on the road."
Lisa looked at me confused, blinking her eyes.
"Is this a prank? You said you were a beginner"
"I just have a good memory"
She put her hands to her forehead and rubbed them against it trying to understand what had just transpired.
"OK, Max. Let's hop in, and I'll show you how to drive."