The morning sun poured over the sleek towers of NeuroGen High, a fortress of science and innovation that pierced the blue sky like a monument built from ambition itself.
Below, holographic announcements shimmered above the courtyard while students in neatly pressed uniforms crossed the campus.
Crimson belonged to elite researchers. Blue marked the engineering division. Silver represented theoretical sciences.
To the world, NeuroGen High was a temple of genius.
To Zayn Mikel... well... it was a prison. A prison built from expectations he could never meet.
Standing near the edge of the courtyard where the shadows hid him from most wandering eyes, Zayn stared toward the assembly. His ears heard every word. His brain refused to understand them.
Above everyone, a glowing lattice of neurons unfolded into the air. Light pulsed through its branches before condensing into the school's AI lecturer: a perfectly composed avatar with glowing eyes and the smug confidence projecting that aura of "I'm better than you" demeanor.
"Today's neuro-cognitive module explores recursive cortical feedback within the augmented cerebellar loop," the AI announced.
"We will examine adaptive consciousness scaffolds responding to synthetic glial stimuli under fluctuating quantum-phase alignment, while monitoring stochastic mnemonic resonance across multilayered synaptic lattices. Your modules will include research into hyper-neural oscillation matrices, trans-dimensional bioelectric harmonics, and..."
Zayn froze.
His brain immediately declared intellectual bankruptcy. Inside his imagination, cartoon neurons screamed and scattered in every direction.
"Incoming!"
"Take cover!"
One neuron tripped over another and spilled coffee across his short-term memory while a second waved a tiny white flag.
Another simply whispered, "We're finished!"
Outwardly, Zayn barely reacted. Barely. His left eyebrow twitched. His jaw loosened. His eyes narrowed as though they could somehow translate the lecture through sheer determination.
They couldn't.
"Observe how glial-cell modulation initiates neuroplastic flexibility during cognition-link calibration," the AI continued. "This synchronizes all student brainwaves into a unified institutional thoughtstream."
Thoughtstream?
Zayn blinked. That sounded suspiciously like groupthink with better Wi-Fi, he thought in bemusement.
And suddenly, Zayn's brain snapped a gear.
Equations sprinted across imaginary chalkboards. Chemical formulas tap-danced over his concentration. Theoretical physics hurled itself at him like dodgeballs.
A miniature version of Zayn dove behind a collapsing desk built entirely from outdated math equations.
Meanwhile, everyone else looked perfectly fine. Students nodded. Some even took notes. One girl actually smiled.
"For those of you in junior classes," the AI prattled on, "you will start with predictive cognition through recursive nano-synaptic interpolation. You will also calibrate artificial hippocampal echo fields to determine the effects of probabilistic memory compression under variable chrono-neural drift..."
What... is going on here? Zayn choked in his thought.
But the AI wasn't done yet.
"Please submit your findings after validating the meta-cognitive feedback coefficients against the tertiary quantum substrate on Tensor Calculus and Intergalactic Thermodynamics..."
Zayn flinched, as though pinched. His mouth stood agape as realization stung him like a bee.
I am doomed, he declared mentally.
But that wasn't the end of it. The AI continued ranting away.
"As we conclude today's neuroadaptive modeling session, remember to synchronize your neural-interface journals. Failure to correct feedback echo loops may result in cognitive desynchronization and negatively affect your ambient GPA rating."
Ambient... GPA?
Zayn's soul quietly left his body. And all he could now hear was:
"...quantum recalibration... neuro-axial convergence... recursive consciousness indexing... adaptive resonance buffering... synthetic cortical harmonics... bio-photonic entropy compensation... multi-vector glial synchronization... blah, blah, blah..."
And suddenly, his soul dodged back into his body. As though hit by a sucker-punch.
I'm not stupid, he thought. I'm just lost in the wrong galaxy.
A yawn escaped him.
"Not again," someone muttered.
"The brainless blob's back from his daydreaming," Max Delano laughed. "Hey, Zayn! Forget your shoes or your brain this morning?"
Several students burst into laughter.
"He probably thinks the NeuroGen Tech Fair is a music festival," Leena Voss added with a smirk. The robotics prodigy never missed an opportunity to remind people she was smarter than everyone else.
Zayn only shrugged. It wasn't his first day as the school's favorite joke. It certainly wouldn't be his last.
"Look!" Rolo pointed toward him. "He's wearing that Blank Drive genius look again."
More laughter followed.
"Don't ask him what two plus two is," Mayla said dramatically. "He might crash."
"Or short-circuit," Timbutan supported.
Someone flicked the back of Zayn's collar.
"Careful, Glitchface. Try not to fall into another server."
Zayn didn't even bother reacting. He simply yawned again. Being mocked had become part of his daily schedule. Last semester, he'd accidentally fried the school's auto-locker system trying to unlock it with a screw driver.
That earned him the legendery NeuroGen High Dumbest Genius Award.
He looked up at the surveillance drone floating above the assembly.
Lucky machine, he thought.
It just floated through life without expectations. How he wished he could just float away like that drone.
"Psst... Zayn."
He turned.
Kenna stood nearby. She was the only person who ever talked to him without ridicule. She held out a data tablet. Kenna was soft-spoken, patient with Zayn. Always. And innocently beautiful at fifteen.
"You left DaTablet in the bathroom. Again," she said.
Zayn blinked. "Oh. Did I?"
He couldn't remember even doing that. He had forgotten that he forgot his DaTablet in the bathroom. Again. It had become a habit of Zayn's that Kenna had to put up with, without sweating out complaints.
"Thanks," Zayn said as Kenna offered a tired smile, handing over the DaTablet.
"You really need to focus," she said. "The fair's mandatory, and your name's already on the board... under 'Failing Projects.' Again."
Zayn groaned. His academic trajectory was spiraling. Everything he touched crumbled. Never turned to gold. But to dust.
The overhead hologram shifted. The school AI's voice rang out, calm and clear: "All Project Development students, please report to your assigned labs for final prototype stress testing."
Zayn flinched. The lab. He hated it — all melted wire stench, ozone tang, and crushing expectations.
"I know," Kenna said knowingly, as though reading his mind. "But hate it or love it, you still have to face it. You might as well face it with intension, than with dejection," she encouraged him.
"Yeah!" Zayn said lazily with disinterest. "Easier said than done."
"No, duh," Kenna countered teasingly without judgement, pulled his nose playfully, "easier done than said." She smiled.
A shy smile. And quickly spun and left, smartly evading a brewing blush as she floated away like a butterfly.
Zayn observed her with admiring naivity, feeling lucky that, at least, one person out of the lot at NeuroGen High, still believed in him.
Suddenly, a shove from behind brought his attention back to the courtyard. "Hey, dream-head? Snap out of it!" the bullying cadet snorted. "She's never gonna be yours. Even in your dreams."
A roaring laughter, this time unrestricted, erupted in the courtyard.
But Zayn was immune. He didn't care. Or maybe, he had long forgotten how to...