The organizer’s voice was cold and bureaucratic on the other end of the line.

"River Lowell, this year’s National Robotics Championship is led by the National Institute of Robotics and founded by two academicians themselves," he said.

"This competition involves universities from across the country. There is absolutely no way we would open the back door for one student, especially…" His tone sharpened into a smirk. "Especially since your school isn’t exactly prestigious. You wouldn’t have the pull to bribe an academician even if you wanted to."

Then, the jab landed. "If your skills aren’t up to par, spend your time learning instead of throwing dirt on others."

Just like that, he hung up. No matter how I tried, they wouldn’t listen.

"River! It’s getting worse online," Zane said, his face pale as he handed me his phone.

The screen was filled with bile from Adrian’s fan base.

"Shameless! Openly stealing someone else’s design? Get out of the competition!"

"Someone on Adrian’s team must’ve been bribed. How else could this copycat rip the latest design so fast?"

Adrian, ever the saint in public, had posted: "Genius ideas often collide. Maybe River’s concept just happened to match mine. It’s fine. He can have this design. I’ll compete with another robot."

Beneath his post, a flood of praise followed.

"Adrian is a class act! So magnanimous, even to a thief."

"Haha, as if he could even use stolen goods properly."

"Disgusting. Someone should call the cops before this parasite gets more ambitious."

I stared at the screen, my blood running cold.

Why?

Was I supposed to give up? Or repeat the exact same doomed path as last time?

No.

I refused to. There had to be something I wasn’t seeing.

Even in my rage, my mind sharpened. My memories of Adrian replayed in fast flashes, moments from years of rivalry.

Before him, people had called me a prodigy. However, from the moment we met in college, my brilliance had been dimmed by his shadow. Adrian was always one step ahead, always releasing my ideas before I could.

Then, a spark hit.

"Zane, do you believe two people can have identical brainwaves?" I asked.

He blinked. "Identical? Not even identical twins can do that."

"If I gave you a robot you knew inside and out, what’s the fastest you could build another from scratch?"

Zane took his time answering. "River, I’m not at your level, but I’m no slouch either. With every part ready, assembly and tuning would still take me at least half a day. Robots have too many delicate, precise components. This isn’t copy-paste. You can’t just whip one up instantly."

My grin spread slowly, then broke into open, almost manic laughter. "You’re right. Building from scratch takes hours. So, how the hell do two robots appear less than a minute apart?"

"It’s not possible. It’s not science."

My gaze locked on the two machines in front of me, eyes gleaming, the thrill of revelation running through me like lightning.

I wheeled the spider bot beneath the gravity hammer. My finger hovered over the button, my voice a low whisper.

"I’ve found your flaw."