"To find the signal with better precision, we use a sinc function and matched filtering. 32 point sinc is usually the industry standard, because it's fast and tolerably accurate. Remember, to match filter, we must convolve the mask with the signal. You will recall that convolution is slow--"
Whispers and giggling. Definitely not the sign of an attentive class. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of white being passed around. Half smiling, she continued, as if she did not notice. Walked towards the first row of desks. "But, the method which makes it fast is of course your beloved--" here she turned and snatched away the note as it passed by-- "Fast Fourier transform," Lieutenant Noin finished smoothly. Quirking an eyebrow at the offenders, she asked, "what's this?"
No response. She made as to unfold the note.
More giggling from the classroom of boys. The guilty parties, Alex and Mueller, flushed. But then the bell for dismissal rang. Noin sighed and handed the note back to Mueller, turning to face the class again. "Remember that even if there is a ball tonight, there still is a final on Tuesday. Remember also that I aim to teach you something on finals, so just memorizing everything won't help." She smiled semi-benevolently at the offenders. "When else do I get your undivided attention?" More giggling from the room as the boys flushed even more crimson, if that was possible. Just what was written on that note, anyways? she wondered.
But it was time to dismiss the class, who clearly weren't paying much attention to her in the first place. "That's all for today. Attention!"
The boys stood up uniformly and saluted smartly. She raised her hand to brow in return. "You may go."
They departed rapidly, Alex and Mueller being the first to rush out of the room. Noin watched the last of them leave. Sighing, she walked over to the window, traced her hand over the elaborate sill. Such a nice day outside. No wonder nobody was paying attention. She turned and looked out over the classroom. Row upon row upon row of desk, neatly arranged two by two. The varnish on the tables was a little more chipped, and there was fresh paint on the walls, but essentially this was the same classroom as so many years ago, when she was a cadet herself. So many years, Noin? Don't forget that you're not much older than the cadets you teach.
She was seventeen, so that would be three years older, to be precise. It felt strange to stand up at the front, even after two years, to teach the class what she was taught, not so long ago, in the same classroom. She supposed she was lucky in that Captain Bellevue did not assign her to teach a class older than herself, or even the same age. It would not have worked out. As it was, maintaining order in this class of fourteen year old boys was hard enough. But the older cadets, they would most certainly challenge her authority...she smiled, flicked her head to keep the bangs from falling too far. Seven years, and still it was essentially the same room of giggling boys, passing notes, trying to learn how to crack enemy radar signals. Not quite the same, a little voice added. If it were, in the lefthand corner beside one of the covert windows there would be a little girl. A bored little girl with long black hair and deep lavender eyes. Maybe she would acted slightly bored because she was a little intimidated (and a little lonely) being the only girl in a class of boys. A class of boys *much* older than her. So she would stare out of the window in an attempt to feign boredom. Until one day--
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Noin was staring again, and she didn't care. Most probably she would get into trouble again if she was caught. But she didn't care too much about that either. And besides, it was such a nice day outside and the teacher was so boring, and the noise from the room behind was so annoying. Finally, she knew all this stuff already, sinc functions, fft, frequency/time domains, complex space, Euler's circle...
"Lucy," snapped Instructor Ascher.
She stiffened, swung her gaze back into the room again. "Sir?" her voice cold. The use of the dimitative rankled. With all the other cadets, it was *cadet*and surname.
"Please explain why we convolve using Fourier transforms."
"Yes, sir." She saluted and stood up. "Convolutions in the time domain require many repeated additions and multiplication because we must sum the weighted area covered by the mask. Calculating the dot product, in other words." Bored already, Noin let her mind relax, and naturally her gaze wandered over to the window. Instructor Ascher thinned his lips, but did not interrupt. "But if we transform to the frequency domain, all we must do is find the vector formed by the point-by-point multiplication of the two signals, given that the shorter vector is correctly zero-padded..." Noin caught herself staring again. Annoyed (it was after all, rude), she forcefully brought her attention back into the room. "It's akin to the use of the slide rule by earlier engineers, sir. Multiplication in the real number domain requires a lot of computation. But if one--"
Something moving outside the window. The captain of the base was walking with an unfamilar figure towards this building. Too short to be another instructor... Noin examined him? her? carefully. A puff of wind stirred the new student's long, long hair, so blonde it was nearly white. A new student! A new girl student! She smiled. There were only four other girls in the academy besides herself. And all of them were older, and seemed to be more interested in the boys than becoming friends with a tomboyish girl...
"--so they transformed to the realm of logarithms, where it would just be an addition." She saluted again. "Sir!"
As usual, Instructor Ascher was impressed and more than a little surprised. "That's very good, Cadet Noin. You may sit down now."
Noin smirked. Just because I am younger than everybody here doesn't mean I don't have a brain, Instructor, she thought. But you won't understand.
She looked back at the class as she sat down. Some were a little envious, particular the ones that scored closer to her. Some smirked at the teacher's surprise. Some of the other boys, the ones that worried so about their marks, were in awe. But, being one of the five girls registered at Lake Victoria base was not great, no matter how prestigious it may have sound. Being so intelligent that she was pushed ahead three levels was not great, no matter what sort of honour they said it was. That sort of thing bore the stamp of "freak". And even worse, the teachers, they would cut her slack, trying to make things easier because she was a girl, and so obviously the youngest of the class. She clenched her teeth. I don't need that sort of thing. I'm every bit as good as the next boy. But there was that persistent small voice that kept insisting-- maybe you do. Maybe they only reason you're here, at the top of your class, is that they all cut you slack because you're a girl. But hey, you should be proud.
You're pretty good--for a girl.
A knock on the door. Noin's heart beat faster. The new girl, she was going to placed here?
Instructor Ascher stopped his rambling. "Attention!" he called. Heart beating, Noin stood up with the rest of the class, saluting. The door swung open and Captain Nyugen entered. "Everyone, please! At ease."
Saluting, the class sat back down. Captain Nyugen smiled through the open door. "Please come in, Cadet."
The new student walked in, chin up, his shoulders straight, his bearing proud, elegant, graceful. Like that of a prince.
A boy.
Her heart sank. Only a boy with long hair. He came to stand at the front, stiffly.
The captain was saying something, something she didn't catch. "-- introduce your new classmate, Cadet---" he faltered.
The boy with the long hair walked over to the board, picked up a piece of chalk. Wrote his name in large, bold characters on the board.
Zechs Merquise. His voice echoed in her mind.
He bowed gracefully. "Pleased to meet you all," his words cold as ice. As cold as his pale blue eyes that swept the room. Most didn't hold them for very long, shied away as if burned.
Noin's fist clenched. Who the hell does he think he is? Some kind of prince? So when he met her eyes, she caught his gaze, held it, proud. My name is Lucrezia Noin, she retorted back silently. Please remember that. She felt a tiny twinge of triumph when he broke off first, glancing to the side.
The captain and the instructor were talking. "I'm sorry about not informing you earlier, Lieutenant Ascher, but I had expected that Cadet Merquise would have gone to Lieutenant Yuan instead. But clearly, he was so advanced--"
Instructor Yuan. The class for the other nine year olds-- her old class. She stared at him but he paid no attention, looking straight ahead. So, he was the same age as her? He didn't look that way. But that might have to do with his height, or his carriage. Much too tall for a boy of nine. Much too proud, for that matter. He would have a reason to... he's probably extraordinarily brilliant. Suddenly it hit her, why she already disliked him so much--What's the matter, Noin? Jealous? taunted the little voice. Unsettled, she turned her attention back to the conversation.
"--not at all," Instructor Ascher laughed, smiling at her. "I've got a matched set now, a boy and a girl. Perfect." He turned to Cadet--Merquise, she read from the board. Her eyes narrowed. Who has a surname of Merquise? "Cadet Merquise, please take the seat beside Lucrezia, over there by the window."
Cadet Merquise inclined his head a fraction, instead of the more common salute. "I thank you, sir."
She watched him as he strode over and sat down beside her, not even sparing a glance at his new classmate.
Perfect, thought Noin darkly. Perfect--
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"--ok, Lt. Noin?" A man's concerned voice.
Noin sprang out of her reverie. It was Instructor Piaz of the classroom across from hers. One of her former instructors, he taught basic mechanics. A fatherly middle aged man, with a warm smile.
She smiled back at him. "I'm sorry, Instructor Piaz. I'm just a little tired."
"Instructor, Noin, you only seventeen, you can't be tired! Tired is for the old, ancient" --he made a face. "Like me."
She laughed. He wasn't that old, she replied.
"Anyways," he continued, "there is also the small issue of the ball tonight, and of course, every woman under the age of 40 should be interested in that. Only the most elegant eligible bachelor in the Federation, his excellency General Khrushenada himself!" He gave her a sly look. "I bet your dress is ready, right? You've got a better chance than some!"
It was her turn to make a face. "There's got to be many better looking girls at the party. Beside, I don't want to go-- I have too much work to do-" he rolled his eyes at that and was going to interrupt, but Noin held up a finger. "Finally, he was my instructor once. Students don't fall in love with their teachers!"
The look on Piaz's face told her he wasn't believing a single word. "Well, my daughter--" At that, he glanced at the clock on the wall, blinked and then stared at it in horror.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh my god, my daughter is going to kill me. I promised to pick up her dress from the dressmaker's and I think that she's closing shop in another five minutes...well, see you at the ball, reserve a dance for me!" he called back, sprinting out.
"Of course," she replied. But she was so tired... she so didn't want to go... Sighing, Noin walked towards the front desk. I'll go sleep for a while, or take a bath, and hopefully that would make me feel better. Collecting her books, she headed out the front door. To her surprise, Alex and Mueller were still there outside. But then again, they almost jumped when they saw her and then sprinted off. Weird. Noin shook her head and started back to her quarters.