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coming up yet again, and from someone I didn’t even know. “I was doing this during class time instead of working on my assignment. I’m sorry, sir.”
    “Well, I’m not. That’s interesting stuff you’ve got there, young man. How did you come up with this?”
    I hesitated. I had no idea what was going on. “In Dr. Laan’s class we were learning about the properties of light. So then in the next hour, when Dr. Noh was teaching us new equations, well, it looked like they could apply to the things I’d been thinking about since the physics lesson. I just started jotting down my ideas…”
    He was grinning, and I didn’t understand why. “Is this as far as you’ve gone with it, or do you have more elsewhere?”
    “I…I just did this in class yesterday. I’ve been thinking about it, but haven’t had the time to research any of this yet. So is it right, then? Is this how it really works?”
    “Is what right?”
    “This.” I pointed to the tablet. “What Dr. Laan showed us about light waves, does it mean this is true? Or is it wrong?”
    He stared at me for a long moment. “Are you asking me if your theory here is correct?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He leaned back and laughed. “I don’t know. I’d like to know the answer to that, myself.”
    “Sir?” A moment before, I’d been sure I was here to be scolded, even punished again. Now he was laughing and asking me questions about my scribbles. I didn’t understand.
    “Mr. Dawes, what you’ve got here is a fascinating view of how light waves react. If you follow this line of reasoning, the logical end of this string of equations, well, if it pans out the way you’ve theorized, it would represent a major discovery in the understanding of the physics of light. I don’t know if you’re right. Nobody does. But I’m very interested in what you’ve got there. I’d like to test this theory and see where it goes.”
    “Yes, sir,” I replied. My head was spinning and I didn’t know what kind of response he was looking for, but silence seemed rude.
    “Of course, there are your studies to consider. I was a student here as well, once upon a time,” he winked at me, “so I know that’s not an insignificant consideration. You haven’t been here but a few weeks, so you’ll still have quite a bit of settling in to do, perhaps still catching up on the workload. Hmmmm… We’ll have to consider the timing.” He almost looked disappointed.
    “Why, sir?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I don’t understand. What does my schoolwork have to do with this?”
    “Well, young man, no matter how fascinating your theory, I can’t get you excused from your studies.”
    “I...still don’t understand, sir.”
    He gave me a long, considering look. “I see. Perhaps you don’t realize how seriously we take the concept of intellectual property.”
    I didn’t know the term, so I said nothing.
    “This is your work, your idea, and it belongs to you. If I were to pursue this theory myself, it would be considered stealing. No one has the right to pursue this theory now but you. I find your ideas fascinating, but I wouldn’t dream of doing the experiments necessary to explore them without you.”
    I felt weak in the knees. It was too much to process. My scribbles, the product of only one of the many ideas that floated through my head, had been picked up by a physics fellow at the Imperial Intellectual Complex and he wanted to research them. He called my ideas fascinating. I almost couldn’t breathe.
    “I can do it, sir! I can get my homework done and then be here every night after dinner.”
    He gave me a searching look. “Are you sure about this? Because it’s quite a commitment you’re making. You should take some time to think about the matter—”
    “I don’t need time to think about it.” I bit my lips together, hoping he wasn’t angry, but he didn’t appear to notice.
    “Well, we could always give it a try and stop if it becomes too much for you.” He