Chapter 8

Normally, completing 50 question of this calibre in 240 minutes would be absolutely impossible. But not for Daisuke. His body may be that of a 15-year-old boy, but his mind is that of 21 year old quantum engineer 100 years from the future and with a super intelligent computer by his side. He quickly skimmed through the questions to see what he is dealing with. The first 15 questions were absolutely trivial, so he solved them right away while reading through them. The next 15 were questions of different kind.

"Oh, so this is why they gave us the test on the computer instead of a paper test. They do not just want to see how our math knowledge is. They also want to see how we apply it. These problems involve mathematical modelling. This is quite advanced even for a graduate university student. But still trivial. All 15 problems would be solved by SARA by a fraction of a second, but Daisuke did not want to raise a suspicion, so he fired up the modelling software provided on the computer.

"This thing is ancient! It's really remarkable what humanity achieved with this limited power."

The modelling program was something Daisuke was unfamiliar with, but with help from SARA, he was able to navigate around and do the necessary calculations for the 15 problems involving mathematical modelling.

After solving those, there were another 15 problems. Those problems were not trivial anymore. These problems mainly involved proving mathematical theorems. Usually, mathematical proofs were taught on trivial cases and then they made you solve similar set of problems to get used to it. This is how mathematical induction is taught, for example. But the questions were nothing like that. All of them required complex proofs that really tested person's understanding on mathematics. Not just problem solving capabilities, but actual understanding of abstract concepts and logic itself. Some of the questions presented a set of axioms which were then used to prove or disprove some claims about the set of axioms. Other required a person to discuss some of the famous mathematical theorems using math as a language.

Daisuke is not a shabby mathematician, but this was quite a test for him. He did not use SARA this time as to not raise a suspicion.

Then, there were 5 last questions. Daisuke had still 100 minutes left. You could clearly see that this is a bait. Some people spent their lifetimes trying to prove or disprove some of the problems present on this test. For a student of 15 years, solving any one of these in 240 minutes time frame was absolutely impossible. But Daisuke did not mind that. All that he had in mind is the extra percentage that he can gain so that he is one step closer to his mission goal.

Luckily, all of those unsolved problems were already solved in the future so Daisuke knew about all of those. He did not know how to solve all of them, but he had SARA at his side. Some of the proofs were brute force proofs requiring hours and hours of computation. For SARA, it was, few minutes.

Daisuke was about to dig into the last problem when he noticed something. The beautiful girl in the front was not doing anything.

"Did she figure out the true face of the exam and solved enough problems to pass? That girl really is remarkable. I should definitely keep an eye on her. I should find out her name so I can have SARA investigate who she is. Daisuke caught himself admiring the girl again. He swiftly shook his head and got back to the test.

The last question was the famous Riemann Hypothesis. This problem plagued mathematicians for ages until it was finally proven in 2087. Interestingly, the man who solved it was one of the founders of 'free country' and one of Daisuke's teachers.

He instructed SARA to run the calculations required for the proof and started reminiscing about his time at school. He particularly remembered the beautiful girl with red hair and face full of freckles who Daisuke had a crush on.

After forceful moving of opposers of the new regime, people from all over the world were brought there. Therefore, the free country had people of all races, cultures and nationalities. One of the factors that contributed to Daisuke being the one picked for the mission was the fact that he was Japanese. Although English was established as the common language of the 'free country', lots of people were bilingual, including Daisuke. He learned Japanese from his father. He remembers how his dad made him drill the kanji until he was fluent in both reading and writing.

"Did my dad know all along that a time like this will come and I will be a part of a mission like this?"

Daisuke's daydreaming was interrupted by a 'ting' sound made by SARA.

"All the calculations are complete, Mr. Hamasaki."

With this, Daisuke finished the last question, and still had 20 minutes left on the test. He spent the rest of this time ogling the insanely hot teacher sitting on the desk.

"That's it! Time is up. Please make sure you hit the "Submit" button for all of your work. Thank you for participating in the test. We will let you know the results in a few weeks. Have a nice summer!"

The sexy teacher wished everyone a happy summer and left the room. After she left, people starting to chat and mingle. Everyone was talking about the exam. Some people seemed to figure the exam out, others were hitting their head on the desk because they did not realize what the exam is actually all about.

The biggest attention was given to the girl in the front row. She was surrounded by the most people, boys and girls alike.

"Your hair is perfect! What kind of products do you use to keep it so shiny?" "How did you do on the test? You look very smart so I am sure you did well!" "Would you consider getting a coffee with me in the nearby restaurant?" "Please make me your footstool!!"

The girl however did not seem to mind any of them and was just gazing out of the window.

People started to leave the room. Soon, only Daisuke remained since he was still admiring the computer that was top-end, but to him it was an antiquated piece of equipment.

Daisuke finally rose from his seat and noticed that the beautiful girl is still there.

"This is a perfect situation to approach her and do an introduction! I should keep smart people close!"

He walked to the front of girl's desk and did the usual 'ehm' sound to get her attention.

"Excuse me. My name is-"

"I know who you are, Mr. Hamasaki"

"Eh?"

Daisuke was taken by a surprise. How did she know his name.

"I know who you are and what you want to do. But as long as I live, you will not be able to complete your mission."

Then she quickly rose from her seat and left the room leaving stunned Daisuke behind.