9 SAT

As I made my way back to my apartment, a wild thought crossed my mind: maybe I should also figure out how to truly please a woman? But I shrugged off those horny ideas and crashed on my bed, trying to catch some sleep before that SAT examination tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I couldn't knock out early after what happened that day. I think I finally dozed off around 2 a.m.

My dream was similar to the usual one, but there was a twist. I heard voices, like whispers in the dark, that kept repeating themselves.

"hirbe... neu... tressis... hirbe... neu... tressis..."

After I roused from my slumber, just before heading off to school to crush that SAT, I figured I'd play detective and run those strange words through some online translators. The only word that appeared to have any semblance of meaning was "tressis," translating to "three." Well, that didn't provide many clues, but whatever it was, it had to be linked to the reason for my sudden burst of intelligence.

Now it was time to put some clothing on and actually get going.

I decided to go with comfort over style, donning some relaxed, easygoing attire. I grabbed a pen and looked towards Alex, who was still eating his breakfast.

"Alex, I hope you make it in time, you've got like 10 minutes to hit the road," I called out.

As for whatever went down between him and Amelia yesterday, I didn't have all the details, but I could make a pretty good guess. He appeared drained and worn out. Nonetheless, I sent him a quick wish for luck on the exam and headed on my way.

I figured I'd be sitting through the SAT for quite a long time, hence the comfy clothes, though who knows, it might not actually drag on for that long.

Unlike the previous days, I didn't need to rush to school this time. I had left my apartment with plenty of time to spare.

When I finally arrived at the school, I noticed that most students were already inside their classrooms.

"Yo, Max, wait up!" Alex sprinted after me, looking visibly worn out, gasping and huffing, he probably ran all the way.

We entered our assigned classroom together, and the examiner instructed us to take our seats at the desks, each one marked with a small piece of paper indicating our designated spots.

As I settled into my seat, I glanced around the room and spotted Olivia at the back, dressed elegantly. She made eye contact with me, flashed a smile, and softly whispered, "Good luck." I couldn't hear her words, but I could easily read her lips.

That's when the examiner began:

"We will commence in 2 minutes," the examiner announced, scribbling the starting time on the whiteboard. "First, we'll kick things off with the Evidence-based Reading and Writing section. You'll have 65 minutes for the reading portion and 35 minutes for writing."

As the examiner started handing out the exam papers, I dove right into the first question. It was clearly apparent that my smarts and understanding had seen some serious upgrades in the past few days, but that wasn't the only thing that got a makeover.

My reading speed had gotten seriously amped up too. I might not be setting any world records, but I could tear through a page in less than 10 seconds.

As I worked my way through the passages, I tackled the questions one by one. Surprisingly, out of the 50+ questions, they all seemed pretty basic, not demanding too much brainpower.

However, I hit a stumbling block when they started asking about how the author would respond to certain situations. I mean, seriously, how was I supposed to know?

I didn't know the person and a short passage didn't reveal much about their true personality. Nonetheless, I connected a few dots and pieced together what seemed like the right answer – or at least the one the examiners were looking for.

I breezed through the exam in less than 10 minutes, but my curiosity got the best of me, prompting me to give it another once-over. As I revisited the questions, I hit the brakes when I read a passage that had grabbed my attention right from the get-go – – "following the money to space."

This passage, with its mind-boggling ideas and futuristic vibes, had a real hook. It was all about following the money into the cosmos, where mining big shots, tech whizzes, and space geeks were all joining forces to make space mining a thing.

The text chatted up private asteroid mining firms, like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, gearing up to prospect and cash in on metals from asteroids.

And then there was the kicker – these space pioneers weren't just looking to fatten their wallets; they were dead-set on constructing a whole off-world economy, totally independent from our good ol' Earth.

I guess crypto could be used for something like this.

While I was busy daydreaming about striking it rich in space, a reality check punched me square in the jaw. There already was a company called SpaceZ, and they'd cracked the code on making space transportation cheap as a slice of pizza.

Ok, maybe not that cheap, but the ticket to the stars was no longer in finding a new way to haul stuff, but in riding the wave of this new space travel revolution. 

Maybe creating recreation parks on orbit or on other planets could bring money from wealthy clients, but that required time and money, which I didn't have.

Mining for resources was definitely the most profitable idea, but the risks were high.

I recalled this article I'd checked out back in the day, breaking it down about the crazy resources hidden in the asteroids. Those space rocks weren't just your run-of-the-mill chunks of rock and dust; nah..., they were like jackpot mines, loaded with bling like platinum, gold, and other rare earth elements like yttrium and lanthanum – stuff that's essential for personal electronics.

Water was like the holy grail up there, especially from the moon's poles. It could do double duty, quenching an astronaut's thirst and getting split into oxygen and hydrogen for that spacecraft juice. The universe was looking like a treasure chest.

"Time's up, folks. I'll be collecting this part of the exam and handing out the written section."

While I was still lost in thought, the examiner handed me another paper. This one looked even more snooze-inducing, filled with grammar, punctuation, and correcting mistakes – the whole shebang. But, given my specialization in humanistics, I breezed through it like a pro.

Finally, it was break time, and I could use a breather.

"Anyone faced any problems during this part?" Charlotte, the class monitor, inquired, addressing the group outside the classroom.

"Not really," I replied nonchalantly, breaking the silence, as no one else seemed eager to answer her.

"Yeah, 'cause you can't even read, Max. You probably left everything unanswered," Dylan chimed in, smirking.

"Worry about yourself, Dylan" Olivia responded, her expression turning angry as she stood by my side.

Dylan couldn't resist taking another shot, saying, "Ah... I see we have a new love-dove pair here. It has nothing to do with you, Olivia. Max is just a pushover."

Olivia looked at him, disgusted, "And you're retarded."

After Olivia's remark, Elias chuckled and simply said to Dylan, "You got roasted, bro."

"FUCK YOU, Elias."

The exchange between Dylan and Elias had always struck me as somewhat childish, but now it felt even more so as if they were two little kids squabbling in a sandbox. When they couldn't navigate a situation any other way they resorted to aggression.

"Yo, fellas, it's math o'clock. The dude's callin' us in," Alex announced as he strolled into the classroom, giving everyone the heads up.

...

While the other folks were still stuck on the first question, scratching their heads and wondering where to even begin, I was in a league of my own.

I had already breezed through 5, 6, heck 7 questions of the closed section. It was like the answers were materializing on the page, effortlessly flowing into my mind like they were destined to be there.

Polynomials? Shit, I could handle those like a pro. When it came to solving higher-order polynomials, I had a few tricks up my sleeve. One of my favorite techniques was good old synthetic division.  It worked like a charm every time.

I speedran through a couple of open geometry questions. Identified the domain issues in a flash before jotting down my answers on the tables.

In under 30 minutes, I had wrapped it all up. I stood up, handed in my papers, and made my way out of the classroom, feeling done with the whole deal.

Now came the waiting game, but I couldn't help but feel confident that I had aced every single question. It was time to set my sights on MIT and start laying the foundation for my future - it was time to turn potential into cold, hard cash before the need to relocate came knocking.