The genius experiment, p.6
The Genius Experiment, page 6
21
Ms. Kaplan led the way into a large and noisy dining hall.
Max immediately felt awkward. She was supposed to spend days with kids her own age? She counted eight of them seated around one large, circular table. They were passing around serving platters and bowls heaped with steaming food. There was one empty seat at the table.
Max turned to Charl and Isabl. “Who are these guys?” she whispered.
Isabl smiled. “Your competition.”
Max realized Charl and Isabl had left that part out of their invitation to Jerusalem and the CMI. The competition part. They’d left out the other kids part, too.
“Most of the children arrived yesterday,” said Ms. Kaplan. “A few the day before…”
“A robot could make better kielbasa than this!” shouted one boy with what sounded like an Eastern European accent. He had just taken a bite out of the sausage speared on his fork. “Robots would produce a much more consistent blend of meats packed into the casing.”
“I don’t eat anything with a face,” said a Japanese girl with long, straight hair seated directly across the table from the boy. “Plant-based nutrition has been scientifically proven to be much healthier for you. It’s also healthier for the environment. It takes fifteen pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. What a waste of water.”
“Robotic irrigation could do it much more efficiently—”
“They’d need to tap into the proper aquifers to lessen the environmental impact,” added a freckled girl with a lilting Irish accent.
“And they would!” said the sausage boy. “They’re robots!”
“Here you are, Max,” said Ms. Kaplan, handing Max a clear name badge with a shiny microchip embedded inside its plastic. “Go take a seat with the others.”
The empty seat at the table was for Max.
She shyly sat down.
“Who are you?” asked the boy to her right. His name tag ID’ed him as Keeto.
“Max,” she mumbled.
“You from America?”
Max nodded.
“Me, too. Oakland.”
“New York.”
“Weird.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I think it’s weird that they thought they needed two Americans in this competition. Everybody else is from other countries…”
“So, um, do you know anything about this contest?”
“Yeah,” blurted the blond boy across from Max, the one with half a sausage speared on his fork, the other half in his mouth. “He knows that I’m going to win it!”
“In your dreams, Klaus!” shouted Keeto.
“Those two are like that,” whispered a girl seated to her right. She sounded like she might be from Africa. She leaned closer to Max and her dark puffy hair brushed against Max’s wild curls. “They’re so competitive. Just ignore them. I’m Tisa. From Kenya.”
Max nodded, smiled, and decided to eat the rest of her meal in silence.
When dessert (platters of cookies, bowls of fruit, and ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce, Max’s favorite) was finished and the table had been cleared, Ms. Kaplan stepped forward to address the group of nine.
“Good evening to you all. Welcome to the Change Makers Institute. By now, you are probably all wondering why you are here.”
“To eat delicious if somewhat imperfect food,” said the sausage boy.
“We’re glad you enjoyed your meal, Klaus,” said Charl. “But this is about much more than food.”
“Indeed,” said Ms. Kaplan, clasping her hands behind her back. A three-dimensional holographic video screen hovered over the circular table. It started to illustrate the key topics in Ms. Kaplan’s speech.
“Food and water security. Economic inequality. Global warming. The education crisis. Poverty. Large scale conflicts and war. Pandemic disease.”
“The world you children will soon inherit from your parents is plagued by a plethora of problems,” said Ms. Kaplan. “Many of them could threaten the extinction of the human race. Many of them were, of course, created by humans.”
“Thanks, Mom and Dad,” muttered a dark-eyed boy named Vihaan. Whoever they might be, thought Max.
“Here at the CMI, we hope to help reverse this spiral of doom,” Ms. Kaplan continued, the graphics in the translucent video dome changing from images of impending disasters to the CMI’s sleek, rotating logo. “We aim to make significant changes to save this planet and the humans who inhabit it. That is why we will be sponsoring one brilliant child to help solve Earth’s very real problems. One of you. The best and brightest children that your generation has to offer. Each of you has been invited here because of your unique talents, incredible intellects, and, perhaps most important, your humanity.”
Max had long dreamed that, one day, she might get a chance to make the world a better place.
Sure, it was probably an impossible dream given her circumstances.
But she believed in what her hero, Dr. Einstein, had once said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
Of course, the good doctor forgot to mention the part where, to do the most good, you had to first outdo some very heavy competition.
Eight of the smartest, most gifted, most talented kids on the planet.
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“You have all been chosen for this competition by the CMI’s extremely wealthy benefactor. This person is financing everything—your travel, your food and lodging, your continued education—because our benefactor firmly believes that one of you nine will ultimately be the key to saving Earth.”
“If I may,” said the girl who only ate plants, “who is this munificent benefactor?”
“Whoa,” said Klaus, the sausage loving boy. “Is this a vocabulary quiz? Because I know what munificent means, too. The same thing as charitable, magnanimous, and unstinting.”
Ms. Kaplan did her best to ignore Klaus. “Our generous benefactor prefers to remain anonymous at this time. But when the competition is over and one of you emerges victorious, I feel confident they will want to step out of the shadows to congratulate you.”
“Let’s cut to the chase,” said Klaus, who seemed super competitive. “It’s going to be me. So, save yourself some time. Go give this mysterious moneybags a call. Tell him to hop on his private jet, fly over here, and congratulate me.”
Ms. Kaplan looked like she’d finally had enough of the sausage boy’s interruptions. “If you emerge victorious, Klaus, perhaps we will do as you suggest. However, the contest doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, when you all will undergo a series of strenuous examinations.”
“Tests?” said Max. “Like in school?”
Max hated tests. She hated the whole rigid structure of school.
“Yes, Max. And, I promise you, these exams will be much more difficult than anything you have ever encountered in a classroom. Even for those of you who have college degrees. After the tests, you will also go through a series of interviews, including one with our resident psychiatrist.”
“A shrink?” blurted Klaus. “What for?”
“If you are to be the chosen one, the one protecting humanity’s future, then we must be confident that you have the emotional stability required to do the job.”
“Right,” joked Keeto. “No pressure. Just save the world. Piece of cake.”
“These are the rules of the game,” said Charl, addressing the group. “If you don’t feel you are up to the challenge, you may, of course, leave right now. No hard feelings. Major disappointment, of course, but, as I said, our feelings will not be hurt. In fact, the benefactor anticipated that one or more of you might not want to pursue this incredible opportunity. Should you choose to leave, the benefactor has already arranged for your transportation home.”
Home.
Max really didn’t have one of those. She also didn’t think she’d find one here at the CMI. She was always honest with herself and she could tell, almost instantly, that she didn’t have what these other eight kids seemed to have. They all looked so confident. So smart. So accomplished. So used to beating tests and being called the best and the brightest.
“Um, you know what?” said Max, standing up from the table. “Maybe I should leave.”
She practically bolted out of the dining hall.
“Max?” Isabl called after her.
“I’m just going to, you know, find the bathroom…”
She hit the hall and dashed up the curved corridor of what was, apparently, a circular building.
I hate tests, she thought. I don’t like competition. Or being judged.
A quote she read online ran through her head: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” It turned out the quote was not by Albert Einstein—you can’t trust everything you read on the internet. But Max still liked the quote anyway.
Max shivered a little. She had to get out of there. Yes, it smelled better than the stables, but she didn’t want to be graded on her fishlike ability to climb a tree. She didn’t want to spend her life thinking she was stupid. She didn’t know how to act around other kids. What if they wanted to talk about music or dancing, or worst of all, boys? She just needed to find where Charl and Isabl had stowed her suitcase and ask them to send her back to America. Maybe someplace other than New York. Maybe San Francisco. San Francisco would be nice. It would also be far enough away that the crazy Dr. Zimm couldn’t find her.
She was thinking all sorts of stuff so intently, she practically ran into Isabl, who was suddenly standing in front of her. Proving, of course, that the building was circular, and that Isabl had gone around the other way.
“Hello, Max.”
“Hey.”
“Thinking?”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s sort of what I do best.”
“Then think about this. The world is more threatened by those who tolerate evil or support it than by the evildoers themselves.”
Max couldn’t help but grin. “Now you’re quoting Albert Einstein.”
“Indeed I am. Because I don’t want the CMI to lose you. In my opinion, you, Max Einstein, are our last best hope.”
“What about all those other kids?”
“They are smart, talented, and extremely intelligent. But Max?”
“Yes?”
“They are not you. None of them has ever squatted above a horse stable with other homeless people.”
“And that’s important, because…?”
“Because, despite your astounding intellect, you never once saw yourself as somehow better than others. You saw those people squatting in the stables as your family because you first saw them as humans. If we are to help save the human race, we must first recognize the humanity in all, no matter their station in life. Now then, shall we return to the dining hall?”
Max sighed. Then she nodded.
“Yeah. Let’s do this thing. Let’s go make Dr. Einstein proud.”
23
“And now,” said Charl, when Max was back in the room and seated at the circular table, “it is time for you all to meet your competition.”
The girl who only ate plants raised her hand.
“Yes, Hana?” said Charl.
“We have already met one another. Well, except for the new girl.” She gestured at Max. “The one who almost quit. Your name is Max?”
“It’s a nickname, short for Maxine,” Max explained.
“Interesting.”
“You know one another’s names,” said Isabl. “Now it is time to know more. To learn one another’s strengths and abilities so you can see what you’re up against.”
Max already had a pretty good idea what she was up against. Some of these kids had already graduated college. She wouldn’t be surprised if a few had their PhDs. But she’d made her choice. She wasn’t going to run away from the fight.
“As a reminder,” said Ms. Kaplan, “for your continued safety and security, here at the CMI, we only use first names.”
Ms. Kaplan pointed a remote at the 3-D screen. “Now then, in no particular order, here are our contestants.”
A rotating image of a girl with lots of freckles and fiery red hair hovered over the table. It was annotated with scrolling statistics such as hometown, age, grade point average, awards, hobbies, and athletic activities.
“Siobhan,” narrated Ms. Kaplan, pronouncing the name Sha-von. “Home country: Ireland. An expert in geoscience. She views the earth as a patient whose maladies can be diagnosed through scientific examination, and, eventually, cured. She hopes, one day, to be able to predict major events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods.”
Max was impressed. And Siobhan was only the first contestant.
“Toma,” said Ms. Kaplan as the rotating image and stats changed to the brown-haired boy seated on the other side of Siobhan. He was wearing a t-shirt that said GRAVITY IS SUCH A DOWNER. “Home country: China. Toma is a budding astrophysicist, obsessed with the nature of celestial bodies and how this study might lead to an understanding of black holes, dark matter, and wormholes.”
“I’m also interested in time travel as well as the origins of the universe,” added Toma. “They’re kind of my hobby.”
Max could relate. They were kind of her hobbies, too.
“Moving on,” said Ms. Kaplan. “Hana. Home country: Japan. She specializes in botany, the science of plant life…”
Which is all she ever eats, thought Max with a slight grin.
“Hana has a keen interest in plant breeding—bringing new, sustainable foods to the world table while taking a broad view of the global ecosystem. Next up is Vihaan, from Mumbai.”
A boy wearing a kurta, a loose collarless shirt, smiled and waved to the group.
“He has his university degree in quantum mechanics. He hopes to, one day, develop a unified theory of everything, which will explain all physical aspects of the universe.”
The next image projected was the pale-skinned sausage lover.
“Klaus,” said Ms. Kaplan.
And, as if on cue, the boy belched.
“Home country: Poland. He is an expert in robotics, which, of course, combines many fields of study: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science.”
“And artificial intelligence,” said Klaus. “You forgot to mention artificial intelligence, which is what all of you have compared to me: fake smarts.”
Ms. Kaplan ignored him and clicked on to the next contestant.
“Tisa.”
It was the girl seated beside Max.
“A biochemist from Kenya. By studying how chemistry relates to biological components, such as cells, Tisa can tell you how living beings operate and, for that matter, how they came into existence.”
Max wondered if maybe Tisa might be able to use her biochemical smarts to help her figure out how she, Max Einstein, the girl with a mysterious and unknown past, came into existence.
“Tisa would also like you all to know that, even though her father is one of the wealthiest industrialists in all of Africa, that had absolutely nothing to do with her being selected for this program.”
Tisa nodded. “Just sayin’…”
Ms. Kaplan tapped her remote. The image shifted to a girl with very short, dark-blond hair.
“Annika. Home country: Germany. She is a master of formal logic, which, she would argue, is a type of science, even though it is not based on observations, empirical evidence, or data.”
Klaus snorted his disagreement.
“Do you dispute the human advances brought to light by Aristotle and his syllogisms?” said Annika.
“Let’s save the debates for later,” said Charl. “Ms. Kaplan, please continue. Introduce our two American contestants.”
“First, we have Keeto from Oakland, California—a city not far from Silicon Valley. Keeto is a computer scientist who envisions changing the world through algorithms and computer code.”
“Count on it,” said Keeto, who was kind of cocky. Not as bad as Klaus, but close. “In fact, I plan on becoming the first African-American Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Maybe both.”
“Finally, we have Maxine.”
“Just Max, please.”
“Very well. Max. She is our most recent arrival and, therefore, we have not had time to load her biographical data into our presentation software. Suffice it to say, she, like all of you, deserves to be here.”
“Of course she does,” said Klaus as the hologram projector went dark. “In fact, you all belong here. Why? So I have somebody to defeat!”
24
Dr. Zimm was not looking forward to the meeting at the Corp’s top-secret headquarters hidden in the mountains of West Virginia.
He had been summoned to the underground bunker by the board of directors. Every man and woman seated at the long, impressively carved table would be a billionaire and the type of person who never tolerated (or forgave) mistakes, glitches, or errors.
They would demand answers.
And, right now, Dr. Zimm didn’t have any. He had no idea where Max Einstein could’ve fled with Charl and Isabl.
Only one thing was certain: she wasn’t in Milwaukee. Dr. Zimm had been duped by that shiftless vagrant, Mr. Kennedy. When he sent Jimenez and Murphy back to deal with the deceitful homeless people at the stables, they were all gone. Vanished. Dr. Zimm suspected someone at the CMI knew of his movements.
But he couldn’t tell the board of directors his suspicions. If he did, they would relocate him to one of their remote re-education facilities. Probably the one in Siberia.
“You lost her?” asked the Chairman. “Again?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Dr. Zimm, standing in front of the panel of seven inquisitors, his hands firmly clasped behind his back.
“What is this, Dr. Zimm? The second or third time?”
“The second, sir. And, I promise, it will also be the last.”
“You never should’ve let her escape in the first place!” said the Chinese member of the board. “She was far too valuable.”
