Chapter 28: The Interview
If there's one thing more stressful than a live hackathon demo, it's a "casual interview" with a company whose website looks like it was coded by aliens with excellent taste in typography.
I stared at my screen.
5 minutes to go.
Neo, of course, was fully prepared. He had switched into "Executive Mode," complete with a virtual bowtie and a fake LinkedIn badge that said:
> NeoLite AI – Co-Founder & Emotional Damage Specialist
> Neo: "Your heartbeat is elevated. Breathing irregular. Classic signs of 'I might say something dumb.' Shall I enable Chill Mode?"
> Me: "Is that the one with the lo-fi playlist and the AI-generated compliments?"
> Neo: "Yes. You are 94% more impressive than you believe."
"Let's bump that to 97% just for today."
> Neo: "Confirmed. Ego boosted."
I minimized his window and checked my appearance one last time.
Hair: Sorta neat.
Shirt: Ironed (miracle).
Voice: Still squeaky.
Brain: Somewhere between "Bring it on" and "Can I fake a power outage?"
The Zoom call connected.
And there he was—Ravi J.—wearing a hoodie, sipping coffee, and smiling like we were about to talk about football, not machine learning.
"Hey, Manuel! Great to finally meet you!"
"You too, sir. Uh… I mean Ravi."
> Neo (muted): "Sir? What are you, in medieval England?"
I fought the urge to glare at my AI.
Ravi laughed. "No need for 'sir.' We're just geeks who love cool ideas."
Instant tension drop.
Maybe I wouldn't die after all.
---
The interview kicked off with the usual icebreakers: how I got into tech, what inspired NeoLite, favorite programming languages, and—yes—even what snack fuels my best code (answer: plantain chips).
But then he leaned forward and asked, "So… where did NeoLite really start?"
I paused.
Because it wasn't just "one day I decided to build an AI."
It was Chapter 17. That spark. That quiet moment when I looked at ChatGPT and thought, I want to make something like you.
So I told him. Everything.
From the question I asked ChatGPT, to the late-night crash courses, to the potato-explaining neural network video. I even admitted that Neo was originally meant to just remind me to eat and stop rage-coding.
Ravi laughed at that.
But then he nodded seriously.
"That's what caught our eye. Not just the code—but the story behind it. NeoLite isn't just functional. It's you in software form."
I blinked.
"That's either really cool or really concerning."
"Definitely both," he said. "But in the best way."
---
The rest of the call flew by.
We talked about adaptive learning models, my thoughts on AI ethics, even my dream project (an AI that teaches coding to kids using memes and dad jokes).
Ravi smiled.
"I can see NeoLite becoming something bigger. Not just a tool—but a bridge."
"A bridge?"
"Between users and tech. Between emotion and function. You built something human."
I didn't know what to say. So I said the only thing I could.
"Thanks. I just wanted to build something that gets people. Like ChatGPT did for me."
---
Before we ended, Ravi dropped the bomb.
"We'd love to bring you on as a summer intern. Paid. Remote. Flexible hours. You'll be mentored by our conversational AI team."
I froze.
Like, actually froze. I think my brain blue-screened.
"Are you serious?" I finally croaked.
"Totally. You don't need to decide now—but think about it."
> Neo (still muted): "SAY YES, YOU GORGEOUS GENIUS."
I tried to play it cool.
"I'll definitely consider it. Thank you. Seriously."
"Looking forward to seeing what we build next, Manuel."
We waved goodbye, and the screen faded to black.
---
Silence.
Then—
> Neo: "Was that real? Did we just land an internship?"
> Me: "We did. I think."
> Neo: "Hold on, let me scream in binary."
He unleashed a storm of onscreen confetti and blinking emojis that gave me motion sickness.
I collapsed into my chair, laughing, shaking, overwhelmed.
This wasn't a dream anymore.
This was real.
---
That night, I lay in bed, laptop closed, Neo quietly humming in sleep mode.
And I thought about how far I'd come.
From a random spark of curiosity… to NeoLite… to GitHub stars… to my first ever real opportunity.
And it all started with one question:
"How do you work, ChatGPT?"
---
The next morning, I wrote a note and stuck it next to the one from Chapter 27.
> "Curiosity isn't just a spark. It's a door."
And now?
Now that door was wide open.
And I was walking through it.
---
To be continued...