Penny, Alice and Sylvie wondered off with Callisto as a chaperone still. Kat smiled at the girls' retreating backs. *Seems like Sylvie might just come out of this with TWO friends. What a success!* Lily chose this point in time to return, and saw what Kat was mentally talking about. "So… how did that happen?" asked Lily.
"Well, Penny tried to berate me for getting one of the equations wrong, I told her off lightly, then kept her occupied until Sylvie got back with Alice and now they sort of seem to be friends? I'm not sure how that worked out, but seems like it did," explained Kat.
"Was it wrong?" asked Lily.
"Eh… sort of," answered Kat.
"How can a math equation be sort of wrong?" asked Lily confused. "It's math, it's either correct, or it isn't,"
"That's true, but, at least from what I overheard, the agreement they reached was that Sylvie had written in the wrong variable, but answered the question as if she'd put the correct variable in anyway. So the answer was correct for the wider scope, and didn't effect any of the other equations. So… it was 'sort of' wrong," explained Kat.
"Oh… yeah ok that does make sense. It was sort of wrong. Though, did Sylvie fix it on the poster?" asked Lily.
"Well she was going to," said Kat, "But then Alice pointed out that we might not be able to swap it now that setup time has finished. So Sylvie and Callisto weren't sure if they could fix it or not. They did write this out," Kat pulled a piece of paper and a roll of tape, "so I can fix it if the judges allow me to do so, but they didn't want to get deducted points for tampering with their display after the deadline or something,"
People passed by, checking out the board and trying to find the incorrect equations, now that they'd heard there was one… but nobody else could spot it. Kat wasn't really sure what that meant for the general intelligence of the science fair, but Kat felt it probably wasn't related. It could be argued it was a typographical error, and not a mathematical one. The next interesting thing to happen was when a man in a suit rocked up to the booth and said, "You look a little old to be entering this contest,"
Kat looked back up at him, "Well you look a little young to be a judge, but I assume that's why you're complaining,"
The man barked out a hearty laugh, taking no offence to Kat's blunt reply, "Indeed I am, indeed I am. I'm actually just a junior researcher filling in for my boss at the moment. He's caught a cold and can't judge today… is what I've been told to say, but I'm pretty sure he's off golfing with a few of his buddies,"
Kat raised an eyebrow at that, "I was partially joking, I didn't realise there were veteran scientists here as the judges, I'd just assumed,"
The man waved dismissively, "It's no big deal. My name is Alexander, Alexander Armstrong, and I'm doing a basic scan of all the booths, making sure nobody is breaking any of the rules in more obvious manners… which does mean I was serious about that question earlier, even if I have a pretty decent guess,"
Kat nodded, "I'm just here watching the booth for my younger sister, technically I'm part of the display, but everything you see here, including the fake wings, were made by Sylvie. Well… I guess she didn't sew my clothes herself, but that wasn't really what you were asking,"
Alexander nodded and looked to Lily who said, "I'm just here to hang out with my girlfriend, and her sister, our chaperone is watching the kids,"
Alexander nodded, "Yeah I guessed as much, I just haven't seen any of the other parents… quite so actively participating as part of the display. I think there's only one or two older siblings here as well, it's mostly parents and their kids, both as competitors and as guests. A bit of a shame really, I know the organisers were hoping for a bigger turnout,"
"Really?" asked Kat, "Why?"
Alexander shrugged, "Probably looking for more money from the mayor, though I can't be sure. I'm not exactly on the committee for this, remember, I'm just the replacement,"
Kat rolled her eyes, "Well Mr Replacement, do you know if I'm allowed to tape this corrected answer over the current one? My sister worked it out, or more accurately, a girl called Penny called me out on it and eventually talked it out with my sister, whose name is Sylvie and they came up with this correction. One of the variables is wrong, but the answer is correct as if the variable was as well,"
Alexander chewed on his lip for a few moments, where Kat thought he was thinking about the question, but in truth he was looking at the handwriting on the paper and comparing it to the handwriting on the printout… only to realise the other math had all be types up so they weren't going to match anyway. "I'm not totally sure… I'm going to say that as long as it happens before the judges see it it's fine… and if they try to dock points for it, I'll take the hit as the 'dumb replacement who didn't know the rules',"
Kat shrugged, "If you're sure," she said as she turned around and fixed the paper over the equation correcting it. "Do you have any other questions?"
"Yeah… though this one is just for personal curiosity?" said Armstrong and Kat nodded, "Right well, I'm curious as to how those wings are holding their shape so well. I've seen fake wings before, but those are quite substantial and well done,"
"Metal framing," answered Kat. "It's supporting it in all the places it needs, then the leather was moulded over the top and painted afterwards,"
"Damm… isn't that heavy?" asked Alexander.
Kat shrugged letting the wings move visibly with her shoulders even if they didn't move quite so obviously in reality, "A lot of the weight is being taken by the harness so it all evens out. I'm not actually sure what the whole ensemble weighs, but it's not light I can tell you that. I'm not sure I'd want to be walking around all day with these on," *Of course, not for weight related reasons but once again, technical truths for the win!*
"Huh… that's some strength you've got hiding under that kimono," mumbled Alexander.
"I'm stronger then I look," confirmed Kat in what she hoped was a misleading enough way.
"Right… well I suppose while I'm here, I'll ask just to confirm, Sylvie, your sister, is solely responsible for this display?" asked Alexander, "Just for the record,"
"Well I certainly didn't help. She only told me she'd entered the science fair recently. She was keeping it a secret to surprise me. I'm not sure what you consider 'solely' I know the design for the wings took quite a while to get right. From what I know, Sylvie would design them, Callisto would make them, then the first few times they broke under the weight, and Sylvie would come up with a new design. Repeat until the final design where Sylvie made her own copy. Is that still Sylvie's work," asked Kat.
"Yes, that certainly counts. In fact, I do believe that's less assistance then some of the other, less impressive displays have received," said Alexander, as he ignored the glares from the other nearby booths.
"What would you know?" asked one of them.
Alexander looked back with a bored gaze, "Look, I'm not here to start problems, but I've seen a few displays where the handwriting is completely different for half of the notes! That's a pretty clear display of assistance to me, I don't even care which set of handwriting is the kid's, someone did half the work. Others have different amounts, and might get penalised or disqualified as well, but I'm not responsible for that,"
There were a few more grumbles at that but nobody said anything else afterwards. Alexander nodded at the silence and turned back to Kat, "Thank you for your time. Everything looks good to me, and while the other judges will be a bit harsher when we all come around again, I think what has been done is fantastic. Oh, but do remind your sister that she does need to b e present during the judging so that she can answer questions, otherwise she'll be disqualified,"
"Sure thing," Kat agreed easily. "I'll tell her next time I see her, or send Lily off to find her if I see a group of judges coming this way,"
"Excellent," said Alexander with a nod as he moved off to inspect a few more booths. He was likely nearly done, and Kat was assuming the judging would start soon.
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