We walked around the park for twenty minutes without any sign of Li.
“Can’t we just talk to Li at school tomorrow?” 10 said.
“Hello,” came a voice from above.
10 and I both turned and looked up into the tree we were standing under. Reclining in the crook of a branch was Li, holding an orange peel that looked to be shaped like a spider.
“Hello,” Li said. “Do you happen to know what color it is, please?”
“I’m just so glad we found you,” I said with a sigh of relief.
“I’m glad you’re glad, but I’m pretty sure that I found you,” Li responded.
“Um, yes, I guess so. And, sorry, what was it you asked, what time it is?”
“Interesting. No, I don’t much care for time. I’m very curious to know what color it is.”
I noticed Li’s voice for the first time. It was like a pixie’s melody. Almost singing, almost asking something. I looked at 10, whose face seemed to say, This is a huge mistake, can we please get away from this person as fast as possible?
“Um, what color is what?” 10 asked.
“Just the color. If you had to say, today, right now, if it was a color, what would it be?”
I shrugged, looked around, took a breath and took a chance. Could all of this really hang on a color?
“Definitely light purple.”
Li suddenly hid the spider-peel in a pocket somewhere and jumped down to the ground next to 10 and I.
“Light purple, you say?” Li asked. “Interesting.”
Li smiled broadly, grabbed my hand, and lifted it to look at my elbow for about forty-five seconds. I looked to 10 for guidance and was about to pull my arm away. Li hummed a tune and, seemingly satisfied, let go of my arm. Li then sat down on the grass, fingers slowly trawling through the blades, eyes closed.
“So, um, 10 and I,” I said, “we are, um, we have, entered a competition, the school robot-building competition.”
Li found a leaf on the ground, and lifting it up, held it close as if listening to it.
“And we were kind of wondering…” I said, while 10 pointed at me mouthing you, “We were wondering if maybe it would be good to have a bigger team to work on it and get some different ideas. Different perspectives. Different everything.”
Li’s hands mimed pulling air from all directions.
“So, we thought maybe, that you could join our team and help us build a really amazing robot. The team is really only 10 and I. And our robot, Ada, of course, which is three. You’d be four. Though we have a mentor as well, plus Mrs. D’Silva and Mr. Jabari are helping too. 10 has built lots of robots and I’m learning, fast. We’d really like you to help us make the robot different.”
Li took a leaf, tore it in two, releasing the smell of mint, eating one half and throwing the other half into the air.
“It’s going to be really fun and we could win, but it’s also going to be really hard, and we also might lose…” I continued.
Oh my, I don’t even believe myself here. How do I get Li excited about this?
Li’s tongue began to make a clicking noise, with absolutely no pattern whatsoever.
“So, do you want to join our team?” I asked, my voice trailing off.
Li rubbed the tips of four fingers on each hand against each other, smiling.
A minute passed.
“Yes,” Li said.
10 and I looked up in unison.
“What?” I asked.
“Huh?” 10 asked.
“Yes, I’d like to join your team to build roberts,” Li said.
“Ro-bots. Building ro-bots,” 10 said.
“Yes, robots, too,” Li said.
“Really, that’s great. But it’s robots, ok? You get that, right?” I asked.
“Yes. It doesn’t really matter. I was hoping for something different to do today, and this smells much curious,” Li said.
“Smells much curious? Is that like ‘sounds good’?” 10 asked.
“Not really, not at all, but it’s a happy thing. Just in case your face, all bunchy-up as it is, is worried it’s an unhappy thing.” Li said.
I know this seems even crazier now, but we need a bit of crazy.
“Two clouds are floating around me,” Li said, holding up both hands, one flat and one angled, which looked nothing like clouds. “The first cloud says, ‘What is the thing that you said which is called a robot competition?’ ”
“Um, hey, yes, that’s a good question Li, or cloud, both of you, thanks,” I said. “Let me tell you how it works.”
Li gently patted the grass. I slowly and awkwardly sat down. 10 crossed her arms while Li kept patting. 10 threw her arms up in the air and joined us on the grass.
“So, um, a robot competition is, well, a competition to build the best robot. Anyone from the school can enter, your team can be up to ten people, you can get support from parents and teachers, but the robot must be built by the students,” I said.
“Fascinating. Just fascinating. And you’re saying that this happens in our school?’ Li asked.
“Yes, it happens every year. Haven’t you seen it?” 10 asked. “The big finale where all the robots compete?”
“Not yet. But go on,” Li said.
“Ok, so, um, the robots have to perform three challenges and they change each year,” I explained. “The better you do in each round, the more points you get. Whichever robot has the most points after the three rounds, wins.”
Li’s mouth opened, as if about to say something, but nothing came out.
I waited a few seconds, then continued, “So we are building a robot and the competition is tough so it won’t be easy, and we might come last, but we are kind of hoping that we could just maybe…possibly…win…maybe.”
“Don’t hold back on those confidence levels AZ, we don’t want to get too excited,” 10 said.
“Well, I don’t want to set the wrong expectation. It’s going to be hard. And I know this is new for Li,” I said.
Then Li started singing:
“Hard is good and I love new,
Plus, the robot competition, too,
Challenges to win, rounds to earn,
It’s a rainbow day when I get to learn.”
10 and I looked at Li in silence, then 10 started smiling.
“What’s so funny?” I asked 10.
“Technically, everything. Everything about this is funny. Ludicrous, but funny,” 10 said.
“Yes, hilarious. Now, let’s talk more about our plans,” I said.
“That would be good. I just have one more question, please,” Li asked.
“Sure, what is it?” I asked.
“What is a robot?”
T-Minus Eleven
A Letter to Li’s Grandmother
Dear Grandmother Blossom, from your Loving Beam of Joy, Li,
I have news to share which will hopefully make you see orange, your third favorite color. I have become a member of an adventurous band of teenagers on a wild and crazy journey. This trio, for there are three of us, was formed just 17,580 minutes ago and, in that time, my world has been wonderfully turned into another kaleidoscope. I also risked my life for the first time, which was thrilling.
This group has entered a robot competition. There are two things about this I would like to share. The first one: a robot is a mechanical, computerized machine that can do things you want it to do. I am truly amazed. Young people like us, entrusted with screwdrivers, wires, and microchips (very small computer parts) can be combined in the right way to create magic. To create life. I am astounded. I am changed.
And two: a competition is where multiple groups try to be better than each other according to a set of rules. It sounds all quite Neanderthal but I am assured there is no physical battle that transpires.
Truly
, I didn’t know anything about either of these before I started, and even more truly, I’m still working it out.
Let me tell you about the other members of our team; AZ and 10—how wonderful are those names?
AZ.
She is wonderful.
She is outwardly and inwardly wrestling and debating; she challenges demons, has confidence and anxiety, humility and desire. What will happen if she fails? Or, perhaps more confronting, what will happen to the world if she succeeds?
What fascinates me the most is how she can make something from seemingly nothing. Atoms and space, in happy combination, by her orchestra of gray cells, play in harmony. Yes, she is a conductor.
I will help her on her journey.
10.
She is a treasure.
Imagine a cactus. That has needle-sharp, frozen icicles for thorns, and yet still shirks away from touch or light or love. You could paint that so well; I can see it! Now imagine that cactus in the sun. Warmed, thawing, opening up, thorns transmogrifying into clouds—transmogrify means to transform or alter something in a magical, surprising way.
When 10 talks to her computer, it really listens to her. She likes that it does. It is the closest thing to alchemy I’ve seen—turning base materials into magic. 10 has tried, through a sea of sighs, to teach me how it all works, and this is how my mind sees this mysticism:
1.You write down one million characters, in ten thousand lines in exactly the right sequence, which is a computer program.
1.Then another program, like a translator but called a compiler, rewrites everything into ones and zeros, which is the only language computers actually understand.
1.Then you put that program into a robot’s body (made up of wires).
1.And if everything is done exactly right, the robot works.
Like me, you may need a long walk after that story. It’s a world within worlds that creates worlds.
10 is not ready for a long hug. Not yet. Not yet.
Lucia.
There is also Lucia who is helping us. She reminds me a lot of you, Blossom, except she is almost completely and utterly the opposite. Lucia was once helped, and so, wants to help, which is a smile.
It was Lucia who suggested we learn more about our competition (they are the people trying to beat us and we’re supposed to not like them, but as you know, I love everyone). We all went over to the lab where Dalk (who is like the big bad wolf) builds his robots.
We were watching from across the road for about five minutes and not seeing anything except the front door, when I got up and crossed the road. AZ and 10 jumped up, screamed at me, and suggested I turn around. I did not. They hid. I walked in the front door and then this is what happened.
I walked directly into Dalk, who I’d seen at school but never spoken to. He not-very-politely asked, “What are you doing here, weirdo?” If only he knew how wonderful being weird was.
After a short conversation and some laughter, he invited me to his lab to see his robot called Ukko. I saw it, nodded as I’ve seen others do when they are taking something quite seriously, and then went and told AZ and 10 what I saw.
AZ went from disappointment, to sadness, to despair. 10 went from smirking, to laughing, to ROTFLSMMUHFOAIDMFS—which means Rolling On The Floor Laughing So Much My Unicorn Horn Fell Off And I Dropped My Falling Star, except this time without the unicorn or star.
I took a few moments and thought, “What would Grandmother do?” and held their hands in mine.
Then I said, “We will be better.”
And we will.
Well, that is enough stories for one letter. I hope to hug you soon.
Much love from your gentle, swaying in the grass,
Li
T-Minus Ten
The day after Li met Ukko, the three of us gathered in Lucia’s study and told her what happened.
“So what now?” Lucia asked the cool lab air.
I just don’t know. What if we go through all this and don’t even get close? What if I let everyone down?
“What now? Well, I thought it was going to be very hard but doable. Now it just doesn’t seem possible. So, it would save everyone a lot of time and effort if we just quit,” I said.
“Technically, yes, you can quit. Realistically? Not so much,” 10 said without looking up.
She’s right, if I quit now, it would actually be worse than losing.
“Is that what you want to do?” Lucia asked.
“No, but I wish I could,” I replied.
“Logic is like sandpaper. It can smooth the edges, but it can never make anything new,” Lucia replied.
“Bravo!” Li yelled, shocking everyone. “I’d quite like to win this robot competition please. Can someone please tell me what actually happens in the competition?”
“Ok, sure, so there are three parts to the competition, held over three days,” I said.
“Three parts, three days, I like it,” said Li.
“Part one of the competition is the creative section. Each robot has to perform for three minutes and demonstrate as much creativity as possible. There are three judges who can award you five points maximum for five areas, which are creativity, content, movement, crowd participation, and crowd appreciation.” I put the list onto the board.
“The robot can dance, juggle, do magic, sing, or tell jokes. It’s up to you,” I said.
“Or stand perfectly still?” Li suggested.
“Brilliant. So creative! Though, they may just think we didn’t power it up?” said 10, snapping her fingers to drive home the sarcasm.
“Probably not stand still, but, hey, it’s different, very different,” I said.
“Part two?” asked Lucia.
“Yes, part two is the mental section. Five riddles, puzzles, or trick questions are asked of the robot and each is worth five points. The questions get harder and harder as you go along. It tests the robot’s cognitive functions, AI, and human understanding,” I said.
“So how hard are these?” Lucia asked.
“Pretty hard for a human and very hard for a robot, as it’s not about logic but tricky language understanding,” I said, bringing something up on my phone. “For example, the middle one last year was:
It cannot be seen whenever it’s there
It fills up a room, it’s much like the air.
It cannot be touched, there’s nothing to hear
It is quite harmless…
“…there’s nothing to fear. Oh, nice, I get it,” Li interrupted.
“You knew the answer already?” 10 asked, finally sitting up, brow furrowed.
“Yes,” Li said.
Li shuffled over toward 10 and covered her eyes with both hands. “Do you see it now?” Li whispered into 10’s ear.
“Ok, ok, hands off,” 10 said.
Sigh.
“And finally, please, part three?” Lucia asked.
“Ok, the big finale. Part three, the final day, is the physical part. The obstacle course. They tell you the different parts but not the order,” I said.
“This year’s obstacles are…”
“Plus, there’s always a sprint to finish,” 10 said, looking back at her screen.
“Yes, sure, a short sprint,” I said. “First place gets twenty-five points, second twenty, third fifteen, and anyone who finishes after third gets five. Each year there are about ten teams that enter, although Mrs. D’Silva said there are more this year for some reason.”
“Maximum seventy-five points. Here is how last year went,” and 10 wrote the scores up on the whiteboard.
Dalk / Ukko
10 / Ezili
Creative
18
9
; Mental
20
15
Physical
25
20
Total
63
44
“I was almost twenty behind Dalk…yup, just twenty points to win. Should be a breeze,” 10 said.
“So we break it down.” Lucia suggests. “Each of you owns a section but helps one another when needed. AZ, what should everyone look after?” Lucia asked.
“Yes, each has their own section. So, um, how about…no, that won’t work, why don’t we…”
“What are each of your strengths?” Lucia suggests.
“Well, I’d say, it would make sense for Li to take creative. And 10, you got second in physical last year, and you know, that was pretty good,” I said.
“Yes, I came second, but over a minute behind, so it wasn’t exactly a photo finish…”
“But better than you did on mental, so you should keep physical. Which leaves mental to me.”
“Good. You all own a part and aim to win.” Lucia says. “Now all we need is a plan, to execute it, put in the work, and we stand a chance of winning. We also get to play against Dalk’s biggest weakness.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“His arrogance.” Lucia replied. “It’s inconceivable to him that he could lose, so we must play to that. The element of surprise.”
We all stared at her.
“Well, what did you do last year, 10?” Lucia prompted.
“I had some ideas, spent every waking hour building my robot, did a quick test the day before, and hoped for the best,” 10 said.
“Yes, well that’s one method. I have another one for building robots, or anything really. I call it a Nine Plan. Here is how it works,” Lucia said.
A Nine Plan
1. Set three goals
Begin with the end objective. Write down what you want to achieve and what will have happened for you to have achieved it.
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