Chapter 8: Math. Maps. Goal.
"Have you thought about it?"
On the morning of the seventh day, Em was sitting by MenMen's bedside. A smile on her lips. A gleam in her eyes. And no hesitation at all in her voice asking the question.
"Yes," MenMen answered. "Please teach me math."
Em was surprised, like that wasn't an answer she was expecting. She almost asked why, stopped herself, and then asked anyway.
"Why?"
It was MenMen's turn to be surprised. But she was sharper.
"Why not?"
"No reason at all," Em answered, shaking her head. "Actually, this is good. Math was a subject I was good at. Before we start with the lessons, let's take a test. Not a math test. It would be more accurate calling it an aptitude test."
Em needed an hour to prepare the test. After breakfast and the morning massage, Em kicked everyone out of the room and handed MenMen the test. There were no rules except for two. One, the duration was an hour. Two, no computational devices would be provided.
The test wasn���t high on numerical calculations, nor were the concepts it tested complicated. It was almost too simple. MenMen wasn't able to wrap her head around it. Was there some hidden complication she wasn't seeing? She wasn't able to shake off the doubt even at the end of the test, thirty five minutes later.
"Thirty five minutes," Em commented accepting the answered test. "That's good. I think we can safely cut of a few more minutes, on account of being slowed down by the nagging doubt. That's good. The fact that the doubt even occurred and that it stayed for so long. Let's see. Give me five minutes for the results."
Em pulled out her phone and scanned the test, clicked the screen a few times, and waited. A couple of minutes later, she had the results which she studied for another couple of minutes before passing the phone over to MenMen.
"Visual mathematician. What is that?"
"It means not only is your iq very high, you're also high on spatial intelligence. The prerequisites for a visual mathematician. I'd like to see something else."
Em opened the notebook she had brought along, and wrote into it a few series of numbers. She then gave MenMen the notebook.
"Write the nth number for these series."
This was something MenMen was able to do. She took a good look at the numbers, and wrote down the nth number for each. It was a little too easy. When she was done, Em didn't even bother checking. Em wrote a few more series. These were much harder. Still, MenMen was able to write the nth number. One last time, Em wrote another series of numbers. This was a lot more complex. MenMen was staring at the numbers a full five minutes before she wrote down the nth number.
"That shouldn't have been possible," Em said appreciatively.
"What do you mean?" MenMen was curious.
"First, it looks like a random collection of numbers rather than a series. If one is able to still look harder, they would be inclined to split the numbers into a mix of multiple series, so there wouldn't be a single nth number. Only the very few dumbest and smartest would be able to put in impossible effort and be able to see the series and find the nth number. Impressive."
Em didn't explain herself anymore. Instead, she got started teaching math. She first taught number systems, and then proceeded to other concepts. Em was a great teacher. MenMen was a wonderful student. It was an absolutely heavenly combination. With progressing days, they were studying harder, for longer, and getting increasingly excited. And they were only studying math. Like there was no other subject.
While she slept, MenMen was with Dot. On the second night, she figured that Dot was the white bird. For the next few days, they flew over the mansion and the grounds, filling in so much detail, it was starting to feel more real than the actual mansion. They were flying inside the mansion as well, along the long and wide hallways, into every room except for when there was someone inside. And all of it was etched into MenMen��s memory. By the end of the week, there was probably no one who knew the mansion better than her.
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was more. It was definitely curious. The night after Em started teaching, Dot showed a radar-like view of the underground. From over the grounds, MenMen was seeing a line map of the underground labs. It was a complicated design that she needed a few days to convert into a three dimensional model that made better sense.
[ We will need to get inside for a better view. ]
{ Is something stopping us? }
[ Well, that would depend. We need access to go in. There are several ways that can broadly be classified into two categories – cheat the way in or break in. Cheat is copying an identity with access, and go in with that. Break in is going past the security without permissions. Your choice? ]
{ Let's not get anyone else into trouble. Break in. }
[ Breaking in is going to be a lot more difficult. Also, I would like to ask. You want to follow me in, which is easier. Or you want to learn and break in yourself, which is harder. ]
{ Teach me. }
There was no hesitation. And there was hesitation in Dot accepting her choice. Thus began Dot's lessons. Surprisingly, Dot was old school. The lessons began with MenMen learning ancient coding languages and algorithms. Possibly because of the continuous interaction with Dot, or possibly because of innate ability, MenMen was able to grasp the languages fairly quickly. She wasn't going to write code herself, so she didn't have to gain proficiency. Being able to read and comprehend code she was seeing was enough. That simplified matters. When she was able to read code as easily as she was able to read human languages and math, MenMen was ready for the next level.
[ It is good that you have high spatial intelligence. Makes things easy. There is an idea that all code can be seen as visual blocks. When you're proficient with it, the code you read presents itself as pictures in your head. ]
MenMen understood without Dot having to explain further. Dot showed her a lot of code, starting with simple code and steadily progressing to more and more complex code. At first MenMen was only able to see the code. After a while, she sat a faint two dimensional line diagram of a simple code. She studied the same code until she was able to clearly see the line diagram of the code. And then, progress was faster. When she was able to see the line diagram of an extremely complex and large code at first glance, Dot claimed she was ready.
[ There is still the last step. But that can be left for later. We can proceed with your current ability. ]
Alongside teaching her to see code, Dot had also taught MenMen about security algorithms, from the traditional systems to the currently popular and the most advanced of the day. They had covered entire schools of thought. MenMen wasn't aware of it herself, but she could count herself among the brightest minds in the field of security.
The two of them flew over the open grounds, looking through at the labs underground.
[ I'll be with you. But as you requested, I'll be a silent partner. Acting only when absolutely necessary. ]
{ Thank you. Let's go in then, shall we? }
[ Our goal? ]
{ A complete map of everything. Don't you think there are truly interesting secrets hiding down there? }
[ There certainly are. But why are we curious? ]
{ Why would we not be? }
[ Is it about knowledge? ]
{ Maybe. But more childish curiosity. }
[ The truth. ]
{ Truly. Curiosity. What do you think Lubar is? Really? }
[ I understand. I must warn you. This is among the most complex and secure systems I have ever encountered. It is very much possible that there might be an intelligent system overseeing it all. It might turn into a battle. Are you ready for that? ]
{ Truly, no. I am not. So, let's not get caught. Let's be our quietest. Maybe that's something we can be. Professional breakers. }
Dot was silent. MenMen didn't mind. They prepared themselves, and started.
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