Everything had gone terribly wrong.
Iggs had suffered a crushing defeat in the field where he had the most confidence and had worked the hardest.
He had thought he could prove himself, but all he had done was humiliate himself.
And that test had only been the beginning.
Through his own efforts, Iggs had indeed caught the professor's attention, but he still received less consideration than Is.
Iggs had no idea what Professor Aximia's experiment actually involved. The professor had only said it was a big commission.
Iggs could now take part in the experiments instead of constantly doing odd jobs. Of course, Is was still responsible for the more important parts.
Beakers, test tubes, alcohol lamps-actual hands-on work.
Iggs tried his best to perform better, following the procedures faithfully at every step.
But that Is...
She clearly never took things as seriously as he did, and she would even space out now and then, as though she were hiding some secret.
Whether conducting experiments or writing reports, she never took off that ridiculously thick cloak, completely unconcerned about the effects it might have on the experiments.
Yet she still did better than him.
Iggs did not understand, but she simply did better than him.
No matter how hard he worked, she was always one step ahead, always doing better than him.
Professor Aximia recorded and filed every test and every report.
The meaning could not have been clearer.
Professor Aximia encouraged competition.
And Iggs was the one falling behind.
The gap kept growing, and that visible change made his anxiety increasingly apparent.
With no other options, Iggs could only cut back on resting and eating to spend more time studying.
Yet even then, the gap between Iggs and Is did not shrink.
During the first few tests, she had