Room 203, Ms. Hertz's Physics 101 Course, 12:12
"Well, class, I'm glad that you've all chosen Physics as your science elective this year. Now, who has taken any kind of advanced science course before?" Ms. Hertz asked. Eric raised his hand, along with Jeremie and Herb. "Well, that's certainly good that you've done something like this before. Now, Herb, what course did you take?"
"Advanced Intro to Physics," Herb replied smugly.
"And, you, Jeremie?"
"BASIC and C+ Computer Engineering," Jeremie said.
"And lastly, our new student, Eric. What did you take, dear?"
"General Unification and Superstring Theory, with emphasis on how it relates to quantum theory."
Ms. Hertz was flabbergasted. Herb and Jeremie were also stunned. "And, uh...you understood the course?"
"Well, some parts were confusing," Eric confessed. Herb looked triumphant at this admission. "Like remembering the Planck unit and the antideuterium particles." Herb reverted to his stunned, enraged look.
Odd leaned over to talk to Ulrich. "Do you understand any of what they're talking about?"
"Not a clue," Ulrich replied. "Hey, look at Herb. He's got a new rival." Indeed, Herb was barely controlling his fury that some new student could upstage him.
"Well, we're starting off the year with astronomy," Ms. Hertz said. "So Idon't think that we'll do much with quantum theory. Now, if you'll open your textbooks to page twelve, you'll see a map of our solar system. We're going to start off with the sun. Can anyone tell me what fuels our sun?"
Herb, Jeremie and Eric all raised their hands at the same time. "Go ahead, Herb," Ms. Hertz said.
"It's an elemental reaction within the core," Herb said. "A...uh...fission reaction."
"Not quite, Herb. Do you know, Jeremie?"
"Well, it's a simple process of compressed hydrogen atoms being fused into helium," Jeremie said. "So it would be fusion, not fission, Herb." Herb scowled openly at Jeremie.
"Don't forget about the photonic pathway," Eric added. "All the energy the sun gives off across the spectrum—gamma rays, UV rays, ordinary light, infrared—all go through a lot of interference as they make their way through the sun's corona, losing energy."
"Which keeps harmful radiation from causing carcinogenic reactions," Jeremie completed. "Along with the protective influence of the Earth's ozone layer, it keeps live as we know it alive."
Odd and Ulrich sat there, watching Eric and Jeremie finish each other's sentences as they described the sun's inner workings in great detail. Odd nudged Ulrich. "Lemme see your notes."
"This is what I've got," Ulrich said. On the paper, he had written: Eric + Jeremie brain 3 x Herb brain >Ulrich brain >Odd brain. "What about you?"
Sheepishly, Odd showed him his notes: Eric walking dictionary Jeremie walking computer Herb walking piece of crap.
Ulrich sighed. "It's going to be a long year."
