Chapter Thirty-Five

The annual Sim City Collegiate Mathematics competition had just gotten underway at Sim State University. Chester, Melody, and Edwin got out of the taxicab that pulled up at the Sim State University gymnasium. They'd heard the host school, Sim State, was considering not fielding a team this year, till at the last minute they got someone to commit. They looked around at the other teams competing. The home team, the Llamas from Sim State, featured Martin Ruben, Daryl Deppiesse, and Ashley Pitts, who said he was only there to check out any available females. The La Fiesta Tech team consisted of William Williamson, Guy Wrightley, and Klara Vonderstein. Two other schools sent teams.
The host sent them to their assigned table as the individual competition was going to begin. The individual contest consisted of a test that had thirty math problems and questions, ranging from basic algebraic calculations to complex quadratic equations. Chester and Edwin stole a few loose glances at Melody, who was zipping through her test. "Dang," Edwin thought to himself, "she's gonna win medalist."
A medalist prize would be awarded for the individual student with the top score in that section of the competition. The medalist would receive a $500 simolean cash award.
After the individual tests ended came the team competitions. Teams were pitted against each other in a round robin quiz show format, answering problems. The first team to score three hundred points would win.
Several hours of competition and the final two schools came to face each other in a live televised event. The Academie Le Tour team would face the squad from La Fiesta Tech. Before they took their seats, Chester gathered the group together. "We have a chance to do something special," he told them. "We have a chance to make something happen."
Chester looked at Melody with a twinkle in his eye. Edwin nodded his approval.
"We can beat these guys," Melody added. "They don't scare me in the least."
"Here's something for you," piped Edwin. "We've been together for months. And we're all friends. These other teams, they probably have been together a few weeks at the most and barely know each other."
As they took their seats, they looked over at the other team. A tight contest came down to the last question. A student from each school would have to face each other in sudden death. Chester and Edwin didn't think twice. They chose Melody.
"Me?" she asked in disbelief, pointing at herself.
"Why not you?" Chester asked.
"But you're the captain!"
"And I've made my choice."
Reluctantly Melody walked up to the podium and looked into the eyes of a girl she didn't know and had never seen before. The task before her was simple. Solve one mathematical problem before she did, and the team prize was theirs.
Melody watched the contest proctor, listening for his every syllable. And he looked at both competitors. "And now for the final question. If x and y are real numbers such that x squared and y squared equals one, find the maximum value of y and x."
Melody observed the other girl, furiously scrambling on her sheet of paper, to figure out the solution to this word equation. Is this the final question? she thought to herself. Before the girl could finish scratching out numbers, Melody pressed her lever so that the proctor could recognize her.
"The maximum value of y and x is the square root of 2."
The proctor alternated glances at Melody and the other girl and announced, "That is correct! The Academie Le Tour team has won the competition."
Dr. Young, Chester, and Edwin flanked Melody with congratulatory hugs and high fives. "We did it!" exclaimed Dr. Young. "Let's do this again next year."
A shudder shot down Melody's spine. The thought of doing this again never crossed her mind.

There was a knock on Chester's front door. He was having a study session with his girlfriend, Jessica McClellan, and Jessica was, to put it mildly, a little peeved. "Who is that?" she asked, looking up from her book.
Shuffling toward the door, Chester realized that it was Melody. "Doesn't she tell you when she's coming?" Jessica asked.
Chester glared at her. "She's my best friend, I can't say no to her." Ushering Melody inside, Chester returned to fixing hamburgers.
Melody walked right to the bookcase next to Chester's door and grabbed a volume from it. She remained as quiet as a mouse while Chester fixed the hamburgers.
Melody gave Jessica a sharp glance. The only sounds that could be heard in the entire room was the turning of the book pages and the frying of the hamburgers in the frying pan.
"The hamburgers smell good," Jessica finally said, "but I'm leaving! I can't take this anymore. I'll call you tomorrow."
A shudder ran through Chester's spine as he heard the door slam shut. How had he gotten himself in this position in the first place?
Trying to push what had happened out of his mind, Chester placed a freshly cooked plate of hamburgers in front of him, and then took a plate for himself. "What do you want out of life?" he asked Melody as he stole a glance at her, tongue slightly askew, concentrating on what she was reading. He couldn't help himself. His heart skipped more than a few beats.
Melody, for her part, was staggered and surprised by the question. She'd known since at least her teens that she wanted to become a scientist, and her interest in the subject crystallized after her abduction. But she hadn't really thought beyond that. Marriage, children, none of that had ever crossed her mind. She had been single-minded in the pursuit of her eventual goal of becoming a scientist.
Chester's question really forced Melody to think hard. Why was she doing this? Why was she pushing herself to exhaustion, with everything she did in her life? Finally she looked up at him and said wistfully, "I want to know everything."
Chester's jaw dropped to the floor. He had to quit eating his hamburger when he heard her say that. "Everything, Melody?"
"Everything there is to know." Melody took a deep breath. Looking over at her, Chester saw an almost dreamlike, childlike glint in her eyes. "I want to know everything that's possible in the entire realm of knowledge."
"You understand that that's an impossible task you've set yourself, Mel?"
Melody shook her head. "Nothing's impossible," she replied simply, "just look at us and what we've achieved."
By now, there was a manic gleam in her eyes and Chester broke out in a cold sweat. He'd seen that look before, and felt the presence of the man behind it.
Melody leaned forward. "Didn't you EVER want to know everything?"
"I did.... once."
"And how did you feel? Honestly?"
"It felt..... wonderful.....but..."
"Aha!" Melody felt triumphant, she'd finally cracked the code that was Chester Gieke. "What happened? Didn't you feel that rush of power you felt when you first unlocked a mystery?"
"Um --" Chester stammered a moment.
"Don't tell me you didn't feel it."
Chester shook his head. "You don't get it, do you, Mel?"
"Get what?"
"This life, Mel, it's dangerous!"
"You lock yourself in labs."
"Yes, but I'm trying to get myself out of it." Chester decided to change the subject. "While you were gone, Mel, I got more messages. They looked like gobbledygook."
"It looks as though a child's been playing with their dad's computer," Melody sighed bitterly as she perused Chester's saved screens, "pay them no heed."
Chester looked down at her.
"You sound disappointed Mel," he said casually, "what's on your mind? Is there something else I should know about?"
"I thought..... I thought......" She shook her head and raised herself from the seat. "Never mind. I'll go get us some coffee."
She'd barely reached the kitchen when Chester gasped out loud.
"It's here again!" he said, his eyes wider than saucers, "and I've just checked out it's source."
"I don't believe it..."
"Don't believe what?"
"It's coming from that last place I ever expected to see...."
"Which is.....?"
"1 Tesla Court..... dammit!"
"Chester, you're not making any sense. Can you please enlighten me here?"
Chester turned to look at her, his face pale and drawn. Within minutes, he'd visibly aged before her.
"Strangetown....." he barely choked the words out "......the Beakers."
"What have they got to do with anything?"
"Actually, quite a lot. They were in cahoots with the military, watching our every move. What I can't understand is, how did they find me? And more to the point, what's with all this stupid coding?"
"Perhaps it isn't them?"
"Oh, but it is." Chester took the steaming mug of coffee from Melody with trembling hands and gulped it down quickly. This was the last thing he wanted to see.
"But why would they do this? I mean, it's been years since you've even set foot in Strangetown."
"Who knows." Chester decided to change the subject. "Anyway, what were you up to? I hear you caused quite a splash at the shareholders meeting."
"How'd you hear about that?"
"Bad news travels fast -- especially when it happens to Malcolm Landgraab."
Melody shook her head. "I hate him!" she shouted in-between sips of coffee.
"I know well you do."
"You should've seen the looks he gave me, Chester. It was like he could see right through me. I had to do my best to fight them off."
"You know, Mel, I wish you'd have told me you were going to that meeting. I should've been there."
"Chester, I know. I'm sorry. I know I said I was going home to my little sister's party. But -- I needed to lay low awhile and take care of this little business. I needed to do this on my own. I hope you understand."