Adrian laughed softly.
“And?”
Eli's eyes brightened.
“It doesn't distort the magnetic field like some metals.”
Adrian stared at him.
For the first time that morning, the anger in his chest was replaced by something else.
Amazement.
This wasn't a clever kid.
This was a prodigy.
And someone had just smashed his work because he didn't understand it.
Adrian turned toward the principal.
“Get medical assistance.”
The principal nodded immediately.
“And security.”
The bully's face changed.
“Wait.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You heard me.”
“I didn't mean—”
“You deliberately struck him.”
“It was an accident.”
“No.”
Adrian pointed toward the floor.
“You hit the central housing.”
The boy stared.
“So?”
“So you didn't just knock into him.”
Adrian's voice became colder.
“You targeted the machine.”
The boy said nothing.
Adrian continued.
“And you did it because everyone was calling him smarter than you.”
The bully's face turned red.
“That isn't true.”
Adrian looked at the students around him.
“Who saw it?”
Nobody spoke.
Then a small hand rose.
A girl near the front.
“I did.”
Another student raised his hand.
“Me too.”
Then another.
And another.
The bully looked around.
His friends stopped looking at him.
Suddenly, he was alone.
Adrian turned back toward Eli.
“Can you rebuild it?”
Eli looked at the broken machine.
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Eli looked up.
“What?”
“You already know how.”
Eli swallowed.
“The glass is shattered.”
“Glass can be replaced.”
“The housing is damaged.”
“Then redesign it.”
“The shaft is bent.”
“Straighten it.”
“The coils are ruined.”
“Wind new ones.”
Eli stared at him.
Adrian smiled.
“That's what engineers do.”
For the first time since the machine shattered, Eli smiled.
A tiny smile.
But it was there.
Then Adrian noticed something.
The boy was holding a notebook.
Old.
Black.
The corners were worn.
There were grease stains along the spine.
Adrian nodded toward it.
“What's that?”
“My calculations.”
“Can I see?”
Eli hesitated.
Then handed it over.