CHAPTER SEVEN — THE OTHER INVITATION
At four thirty, Ethan received an email from Blue Current congratulating him on hosting the official launch of the company’s autonomous underwater inspection system.
The message included an itinerary for visiting investors.
His name appeared beneath the title Community Technical Advisor.
Ethan had never agreed to that title.
A promotional image showed an orange robot moving through clear blue water.
The caption described the machine as an original proprietary development by Oliver Venn.
Priya stood beside him when he opened the attachment.
“That’s our front guard,” she said.
“It’s not your whole robot,” Ethan replied.
“Look at the base.”
He zoomed in.
A diagonal brace inside the housing matched a repair Mateo had made during the spring.
Priya seemed more hurt than excited to find another similarity.
“He watched us work,” she said.
“He told us our ideas mattered.”
Ethan forwarded the invitation to Ms. Rios.
She called within minutes.
“Don’t cancel the visit,” she said.
“You want them to come?”
“I want the people who are about to give him money to hear from the actual builders before they make their decision.”
“Are the kids ready for that?”
“That’s what we have to ask them.”
The parents and students met around Ethan’s dining table.
Outside, the pool service had begun skimming the thick material off the surface.
Ethan had explained the contamination honestly and agreed to pay the emergency cleaning charge himself until Carol could reimburse him.
The technician promised that draining the pool would be considered only after checking the water quality and equipment safely.
Nobody would enter the pool while it remained contaminated.
That practical decision frustrated Carol, who kept glancing at the deep end as if a submerged piece might disappear at any moment.
Ms. Rios drew two columns on a sheet of paper.
One was labeled DEMONSTRATION.
The other was labeled INVESTIGATION.
“These are not the same thing,” she told the students.
“A demonstration lets you explain how you built something.”
“An investigation decides whether somebody behaved dishonestly.”
“We are not asking any child to conduct an investigation.”
Nell raised her hand as though they were in school.
“Can we demonstrate our own machines without using Oliver’s equipment?”
“Yes,” Ms. Rios said.
“But we may need a different location.”
“The community center has a shallow training tank,” Mateo offered.
“It’s booked for swim lessons,” his mother replied.
“Maybe the college lab,” Priya suggested.
Ethan thought of the large clear water trough used in his old classroom demonstrations.
It was six feet long, three feet wide, and shallow enough for everyone to see inside.
He had stored it at the school when he changed jobs.
“The science room has a test tank,” he said.
“If the principal approves, we can set it up in the gym.”
Sam frowned.
“That’s smaller than a pool.”
“Then build a course that fits it,” Ethan replied.
The teenagers began talking over one another.
They drew a narrow obstacle route on a napkin and debated whether a robot could retrieve an object without touching the walls.
Ethan watched their faces change.
They were no longer discussing what Oliver might take from them.
They were deciding what they could make together.
Ms. Rios called the principal.
The answer was provisional but encouraging.
If parents supervised and the equipment was safe, they could use the gym for an educational showcase.
There would be no official scholarship award because no independent judging panel had been arranged.
That disappointed the teenagers, but they agreed that showing their work mattered more than accepting a compromised prize.
Carol sat at the end of the table, listening without speaking.
Nell approached her during a break.
“Did you really dump compost into the pool?”
Carol nodded.
“I thought I was helping.”
“You could have made me look guilty.”
“I know.”
“What if Oliver had claimed I asked you to do it?”
Carol’s eyes filled.
“I didn’t think that far.”
“You have to,” Nell said.
“You always tell me to think two steps ahead.”
Carol gave a miserable laugh.
“I suppose I deserve to hear that.”
Nell looked toward the patio.
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
“I’m afraid of what he can do when adults are too busy arguing to listen to children.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Carol took her granddaughter’s hand.
“When I worked at the plastics factory, management used to take improvements from the people on the floor and put the supervisor’s name on the reports.”
“Did that happen to you?”
“More than once.”
“Did you say anything?”
“Not enough.”
Nell withdrew her hand gently.
“Then say something now,” she replied.
Carol looked at her for a long time.
“I will.”
