May 4 - Two bots enter, one bot leaves.

[Calvin Strong]

"Yeah, but you also said the goal is to push the other one out of the ring. You see anything like that from his?"

[Douglas Decker]

"No, that isn't what she said. Pushed out of the ring or immobilized. Immobile by choice is a different scenario."

[Calvin Strong]

"It's immobile. And it's immobile because my guy's hit its limit on acting and is waiting for something to react to. Therefore, it's immobile because of the actions of my robot, unless it's actually going to do something. So I ask again, is it actually going to do something?"

[Deirdre Quinn]

"I've seen his code. I think I see Mister Decker's reasoning here, but at this stalemate it's going to be quite some time before he's vindicated."

[Douglas Decker]

Doug lifted up his Big Gulp.

"Same battery, different rates of power usage.

There was no point in designing it to fight yours; I have no experience in coding attacks while you have had specialized training. I had to think outside the box, I'm afraid."

[Calvin Strong]

"So you're trying to win by not doing the project," Cal said in a rather disgusted tone.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"He wrote to the specifications. Rather, he wrote a very much wheat toast solution to the design problem. Perhaps my own fault for not giving a time constraint, as those batteries will take hours to run down."

"However, a stalemate is a stalemate. Would you both agree that's what we have at this exact moment?"

[Douglas Decker]

"If that is what you wish to declare. I care not."

[Calvin Strong]

Cal gave Doug a distasteful look. "Whatever you say, boss."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"I'll own this one. A designer being given vague parameters is not the designer's fault."

[Douglas Decker]

"The parameters were clear enough; I just found the unexpected condition in them.

I am sorry to disappoint your desire for bloodsport. Or oilsport, as the case may be."

[Calvin Strong]

Cal just rolled his eyes and gave the observation deck a 'what can you do?' shrug.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Then I suppose you'd be extremely uninterested in another contest to help me decide who to hand the prize I'd planned for this one to?"

[Douglas Decker]

"I would, yes.

Calvin may have the prize, if he so desires."

[Calvin Strong]

"Hell, I'm the only one who did this assignment," Cal scoffed.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Well then, I suppose that's an autographed photo of Aaron Stack to you then, Calvin..."

"...unless Mister Decker still wishes to contest."

[Douglas Decker]

"Assignment? There was no assignment. Nothing here is graded, nothing here is relevant either to your classes or to my research."

"However, if I must, I shall reenter, though I shall surely lose."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"I'm not about to force you, Mister Decker."

[Douglas Decker]

"You proposed this challenge, and despite it falling more into Mr. Strong's area of expertise rather than mine, I shall see it through to the bitter end."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"Then what would you say suits your style of coding more?"

[Douglas Decker]

"Nothing that works well as a direct competition, I am afraid. This will do as well as anything else."

[Calvin Strong]

Cal, seeing that things were over, sent the shutdown code to his bot and picked up his things to go.

[Deirdre Quinn]

"How do you two feel you would handle with... multiple units to code?"

[Douglas Decker]

"Similar end result. I haven't trained in combat tactics, solo or group."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"But you know pathing algorithms. What if the design problem didn't involve combat?"

[Douglas Decker]

"Continue."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"A straight pathing problem. Two teams of four units each, and an objective in the center of the playing field. Touching the objective for five seconds puts it in the possession of the unit that managed to do so, which means it can now be moved. Any unit touching an opposing unit renders both immobile for five seconds, and detaches the objective from the controlling unit. Now, both of those units could scramble for the objective once they're active again, but if a third unit comes upon the objective, it might be claimed in the interim. The units will be able to relay positional data to each other within their teams, so the best routines will naturally be the ones that coordinate this the most efficiently. The first to get the objective back to their deployment zone wins."

[Douglas Decker]

"If that is what you desire."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"So the design problem still bores you, eh?"

[Douglas Decker]

"Bored? What makes you say that."

[Deirdre Quinn]

"You're a hard one to read sometimes, Mister Decker."

"Regardless, it's my notion that students are better engaged if the design problems aren't drudgery. My students here aren't your typical engineering students any more than I was at Birmingham."

"So while I certainly could treat Calvin here as the lad who sorts the salvage, and you as the TA that helps me grade my students' work, I'd say that's doing both of you a bit of a disservice, isn't it?"

[Douglas Decker]

"It isn't my place to decide," he said.

Was he serious? Or putting her on?

[Deirdre Quinn]

"I run a bit of a looser ship than Doctor Chronopolis. Some may like that, some may hate that. I just feel more at home in the workshop with my students. A personal preference more than anything."

"And, I'll confess, I'm more than a little curious as to what gets Douglas Decker interested in a project." She smiled. "You're by no means an untalented coder."

[Douglas Decker]

"On the contrary. I prefer to farm out the labor of coding to others; Mr. Strong is the truly gifted one here.

I look over the code after I have manipulated something and am surprised by the results, quite often," he said, with (false?) modesty.