It was Wednesday of the second week. Which means, it's time for the club! Prime time extracurriculars, what one would find present in any ordinary school like this.
But our award-winning sensation didn't have to follow through with those formalities. Instead, Tammy and Destiny made their way to the far end of the school building, where the principal, being the chill guy he was, had reserved a special practice room for Tammy during Club time.
"-And then, they also announced a new season of JJK immediately after! Now I know how iffy you are on-"
Midway through their nerdy, one-sided conversation, Tammy gently opened the door.
But a figure was already very much inside.
She sat at one of the desks, flipping through a thick, sticky-note-filled notebook; her perfectly straight uniform was unruffled even in the afternoon heat. A pencil twirled between her fingers as her foot tapped in rhythmic impatience.
She glanced up. The tap stopped.
For a second, there was nothing. Then, her brow furrowed.
"Why are you in my room?" Mandy Cherry asked.
The boy froze at the door. All he could do was stare. Destiny, oblivious to the tension, stepped in behind him, still rambling. "-but I keep getting spoiled on Twitter, oh, hey, Mandy. What's up?"
"I said, What are you doing in my room?"
Tammy raised an eyebrow. Slowly, he pointed toward the wall.
There it was: a crisp, laminated notice.
RESERVED FOR TAMUNO-IBI DAVIDSON DURING CLUB HOURS.
Mandy followed his finger, scanned the paper, then wordlessly reached into her bag and pulled out a folded A4 sheet.
RESERVED FOR AMANDA CHERRY DURING CLUB HOURS.
Realization hit them both at once.
"Wait. No. So that means…"
"What? The two best public speakers in the school are doing the debate competition together? Who could've seen that coming?"
"But…But…how am I supposed to beat you if…"
"Booooooooooooo."
Mandy watched as Destiny gracelessly dragged a table and chair from the corner, before plugging in his charger.
"What…are you-"
"Don't mind me. Just do your thing over there."
She scoffed. "I should report you for skipping club, you dirty freeloader."
"It's not free loading if Tammy allows me."
The boy in question was still at the door. He didn't exactly know what to do until those laser-sharp eyes of hers locked onto him again.
"So. Partners."
She seems to have gotten over that rather quickly. Tammy blinked.
She slammed her bulky notebook shut with a decisive sound. "OK. You know what? This is fine! This is incredible, actually! I've had a drought of recent times."
She held out her hand, waving it over him as if wiping a fogged windshield. "There's no WAY we lose together!" She said, confident as ever. However, her mood quickly shifted again.
"B-but don't mistake this alliance for friendship. You may be a teammate, but you're my rival regardless."
"Why do you speak like that? Weirdo." Destiny cut in.
She growled. "Why are YOU still here? Keep it to yourself!"
She sighed as she stalked to the whiteboard, marker in hand. In picturesque handwriting, she scrawled AI: FRIEND OR FOE? in bold.
She twirled daintily towards him again, breaking him out of his temporary trance with a simple finger snap.
"We were given the short end of the stick. We're arguing for it as a friend."
He nodded, before gently walking over to his seat. Rather than say something however, he began to stare at the wall.
. . .
"Huh?"
She scurried over to the alien in the room. "What is he doing?" She whispered.
"Yeah, He just does that I guess."
"Does what? He's not doing anything. Is this even healthy?"
"Exactly."
"What do you mean exact-"
He put a finger to her lip. "Wait a bit and see what changes."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll do a quick 5-minute search. I'll check the rules etc, and all of that. Nothing to it.
Her five-minute search actually stretched to seven, thanks to the absence of her ad blocker. But with a stretch of satisfaction, she finally checked on her partner.
"He hasn't moved."
"Really now?"
He was just… there. His eyes were open, but there was nothing behind them.
"T-T… Davidson!" she spluttered.
The boy snapped out of his second trance of the day, as his gaze slowly shifted to his teammate's once more. Frustration burned in her eyes,a rare and unsettling sight for him,but the rest of her expression was flustered, almost embarrassed.
"What are you doing right now?"
He didn't exactly have an answer, as he blinked back at her.
"Club time doesn't last long! You've done nothing so far! Aren't you here to research?"
Her fingers tightened around her marker. His stillness felt more disrespectful than any rebuttal. Perhaps the lad should say something.
"Right," she said, clapping once. The sharp sound made Tammy flinch. "If you won't talk, we'll start with research. Teamwork requires synergy. So," She thrust a stack of printed articles at him, edges razor-straight. "Read these. Highlight the pros of AI as a societal ally. I'll handle the counterarguments."
Tammy stared at the papers, then at her. His fingers twitched, as if physically repelled by the idea of touching her immaculate work. Mandy's eye twitched.
"Or," she hissed, "do you just… absorb knowledge through osmosis? Is that your secret?"
Destiny snorted. "Did you not just see the guy staring at the walls?"
"This isn't funny!" Mandy whirled on him. "The quarterfinals are in two weeks! Do you know how many hours I've already spent prepping?" She yanked open her notebook, revealing colour-coded timelines and bullet points so sharp they could puncture ego.
He leaned forward, just slightly. His gaze skimmed the pages, not reading, but recoiling. She caught the flicker of his pupils, the almost imperceptible lean back.
"Does stimulus scare you or something?"
Silence.
She snapped the notebook shut. "Fine. New tactic."
She marched to the switch and killed the lights. The room plunged into gloom, lit only by the whiteboard's ghostly glow. Destiny's phone bathed his face in blue light as he muttered, "Hmm? What's going on?"
"Quiet," Mandy ordered. She faced Tammy, her silhouette rigid against the whiteboard. "You don't like stimuli? Fine. No distractions. Just us. Now,"
She tossed him a stress ball, neon green, branded with a tech logo from last year's conference. He won that as well.
"Squeeze once for 'yes', twice for 'no'. We're starting simple."
Tammy looked at the ball like it had hissed at him.
"Question one," Mandy barreled on. "Do you believe AI's ethical implications outweigh its benefits?"
His thumb brushed the ball's seam. Twice. No.
"You'd have too. It's our topic. But why?"
A pause. Then, two slow squeezes. No.
"Ugh, fine. Question two: Should AI development be regulated internationally?"
One squeeze.
"By whom? Corporations? Governments? "
Tammy's hand went limp, the ball thudding softly to the floor. She watched it roll, slow and sure, until it stopped at her feet.
They stared at each other.