"Come on, everyone, eat something."
Tyler walked in carrying a plastic bag and said to the group, "I bought you some sodas and burgers. Eat something to fill your stomachs first."
Nick yawned upon hearing this, then said to Tyler, "Why are you here so early? It's only past six."
"You three have been pulling all-nighters here for several nights, and I'm really worried, so I came early."
"The work is important, but don't run your bodies into the ground. Listen to me, after you finish eating, go back and get some sleep."
Tyler couldn't help but urge them when he saw their bloodshot eyes.
Nick waved his hand, then picked up a burger and started eating.
"How is it going?" Tyler asked, concerned as he looked at the code on the two's computer screens.
If anyone had been the most anxious these past few days, it was definitely Tyler.
This guy had been staying here almost every day, constantly monitoring the progress of these few people.
Zack swallowed the burger in his mouth, took a sip of soy milk, and said, "We've gone through the entire system again and fixed over twenty bugs."
"Barney has also optimized the algorithm on his end, so there shouldn't be any problems now."
Hearing Zack's words, Tyler turned his head toward him.
Seeing this, Nick smiled and said, "Yes, I've re-optimized the algorithm. The new one is faster, more accurate, and has better fault tolerance than the previous one."
"I've also checked the drones one by one and replaced 13 faulty ones. Now, we can basically guarantee that the drone takeoff failure rate will be kept below 1%," Terry said with a yawn.
"I don't understand the technical stuff you're talking about. What I want to know is when it will be ready. You know we're setting off for Miami tomorrow," Tyler said, shaking his head at him.
Nick took a sip of soy milk and said, "We've already finished everything we can for now. What's left is needing time for extensive testing and repeated revisions."
"Normally, according to the standard technical R&D schedule, this should be a long process. But we don't have that much time. Currently, all we can do is optimize it as much as possible to get this system into a tentatively ideal state."
"Then what do we do? We don't have that kind of time now," Tyler said with a worried look.
"We'll do our best." Nick shook his head.
To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure himself.
Although this technology was clearly visible in his mind, there were still many practical problems when it came to actual implementation.
For example, regarding the hardware equipment, he had to modify the system according to the reality of the situation, which was already a very complex engineering task.
Moreover, he was the only one truly responsible for building the core of the system.
Although Zack helped, he could only assist.
No matter how capable he was, a person's energy was limited.
To put it bluntly, what they were lacking right now was time.
If he could be given another month, he would definitely be able to produce a sufficiently mature product.
Unfortunately, there was just too little time.
For them to complete the workload of a large research team that would take months or even years in just over a month—the difficulty was imaginable.
Hearing Nick's ambiguous words, the wrinkles on Tyler's forehead deepened.
Seeing Tyler's expression, Nick naturally understood his current mood, so he tossed him a cigarette and lit one for himself.
"From the tests over the past few days, both the control system and the drone hardware are performing quite well."
"The only thing I'm worried about is the interference from the complex electromagnetic environment and the impact of occasional malfunctions."
"So, what we can do right now is to hurry and perform as many tests as possible on-site before the exhibition opens, adjust the state of the software and hardware, and ensure everything is foolproof."
Tyler pondered for a while after hearing Nick's words, then sighed as he looked at the three of them.
"Alright, don't worry about it anymore. We've done what we could, and now it's up to fate."
"Everyone has worked hard these days. I think we should finish early today, go back, take a shower, get some good rest, recharge our energy, and head to Miami first thing tomorrow morning."
Nick waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's just nap on the flight. There's still a lot to do today."
As he spoke, Nick shouted to the other two, "Finished eating? Time to get to work. Let's try to run the test one more time today."
"I'm telling you, Barney, even a slave driver wouldn't be as bad as you; you won't even let people finish their meal," Zack said, looking frustrated.
"Less talk, get to work."
Nick rolled his eyes at him, then asked Tyler, who was to the side, "Did you buy the plane tickets?"
"Yes, bought them. We set off at 7:25 tomorrow morning, and we'll arrive in Miami at 9 AM," Tyler said seriously.
" Did you check the drone transport? There shouldn't be any problems, right?" Nick asked, still a bit uneasy.
Tyler nodded and said, "I checked everything. It's fine, as long as it's not contraband, it's no problem. They'll arrive in Miami via train."
"But to be safe, I specially got a certificate from the school to ensure everything is foolproof."
"That's good." Nick breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, they were transporting hundreds of drones; it would be bad if they were stopped.
They had actually considered shipping them, but weren't entirely confident.
On one hand, shipping takes a long time, and they didn't have that time to waste.
On the other hand, they were worried about the equipment getting bumped around during transport, causing damage and malfunctions.
Near evening, the group tested the equipment and system again.
After confirming there were no problems, everyone started packing.
To pack these drones and other equipment, Nick and the others prepared eight large suitcases, and even then, they were packed to the brim.
They handed these to the couriers.
Besides that, there were their personal items.
But since they were all guys, it was just some simple toiletries, a change of clothes, and the like, which didn't take up much space.
Originally, Nick had planned to have Jamie go with them, as they were a team.
And having a girl in the team could help them with a lot of things.
Unfortunately, the girl wasn't very willing.
On one hand, it was because graduation was approaching and she had to prepare for her thesis defense; she had a lot of other things to busy herself with and didn't have time to go with them for over a week.
On the other hand, she probably had some concerns.
After all, they weren't very close, and it was a bit worrying to go on a business trip to another city with some guys she'd known for just a month.
Since the girl wasn't willing, they couldn't force her.
Nick had talked to her once and then just gave up.
She was working a part-time job, not aiming for a startup like them, so naturally, she didn't have much sense of belonging.
There was some regret, but no one cared too much; Jamie didn't have a strong presence in their team anyway.
So Nick made a prompt decision and had Tyler settle her wages and let her go.
Everyone has their own aspirations; it's best to part on good terms.
What else could they say? She had no obligation to suffer losses with them, right?