"Mr. Finch?"
Alex looked up. "Yes, sir?"
"You are oscillating," Mr. Harrison said. "You are tapping your foot. You are shaking the table."
"Sorry, sir," Alex said. "I am just... calculating."
"Calculating what?"
"The force required to stop a tank," Alex said. "His name is Romero."
The class laughed. But Alex wasn't joking.
He walked out of school.
Maya was waiting by the gate. She was wearing a scarf. It was red and white.
"You are wearing colors," Alex smiled.
"It is a statistical anomaly," Maya said, adjusting her glasses. "I usually prefer neutral tones. But... the data suggests that morale support increases performance by 5 percent."
"I need the 5 percent," Alex said.
"Here," Maya said. She handed him a small, plastic object.
It was a protractor. A tool for measuring angles.
"For the perfect pass," she said.
Alex took it. He put it in his pocket.
"Thanks, Maya. I will measure everything."
