Spare Parts Page #2

- Sure.

There's an ROV up on Mars.

I'm pretty sure

it wasn't built up on Mars. Sir.

Okay.

Well, this is a highly

advanced piece of machinery.

And as you can see,

last year's winner was MIT.

So, you wanna go up against

the best tech school in the country

- in an engineering contest?

- No, no. Sir, sir.

There is a separate division

for high schools.

I'm sorry, I didn't get your name.

- Oscar Vazquez.

- Okay, Oscar.

It's not that I'm not into

playing the whole Don Quixote thing.

It's just... I'm not gonna

be here that long.

The competition's in three months.

You're here for four, right?

It says they scout

for internships and jobs.

But it's getting harder for kids like me

to get anywhere near that stuff.

You know what, Oscar?

Find a couple more kids and it's on.

A reminder.

Those assigned to Anger Management

must report fifth hour, room L-345

for the especially angry.

You're not recruiting

on school grounds, are you,

Private Vazquez?

No, ma'am.

There's no "private."

Things just didn't work out.

Don't worry about me.

I got this going on

with the new sub, Dr. Cameron.

This looks really great.

I'm not so sure

how long he plans on staying around.

I think I'll take my chances.

That's what I like about you.

I'm leaving you guys this.

Y'all gotta check it out, okay?

- Have you talked to Cristian yet?

- Hey, here's a...

Who's Cristian?

No! I almost cracked

Bertrand's postulate.

Do you know how many steps that is?

Doing you a favor. You really want

people seeing you do math for fun?

Hey, you want me to program

the cheat codes so you can't die?

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

Cristian, you little...

Hey!

Hey, you seen that little twit Cristian?

He's got, like, a striped shirt?

It's all to scale.

I... And for materials,

I was thinking syntactic flotation foam?

I sourced a grade

that's stable up to 1,000 meters.

Did you do this by yourself?

Well, I used a picture

from the flyer that I saw.

I just corrected its design flaws.

It's elegant.

Great. Okay.

So, we can start building, right?

Yeah, well, hang on, guys.

The first rule of engineering is

you never build anything with real material

until you build

a proof-of-concept model.

We can use hangers for the frame.

Styrofoam for ballast?

Toggle switches.

Your mission,

if you choose to accept it,

is to explore a sunken World War II

submarine and the surrounding area.

Using your on board cameras

for guidance,

you must navigate

through an eight-part course

that will test your ROV's agility

and efficiency.

Your ROV should be prepared

to measure the length,

width and temperature

of designated objects,

diffuse any potential threats

from artillery or biochemical warfare...

Did you get to the part

where you have to retrieve a liquid

from some kind of drum

without getting any pool water in it?

Well, now that you've ruined the ending.

You know, Oscar Vazquez thinks you're

really going to see this thing through.

You say that like he's wrong.

He already ran into one brick wall.

I don't want him running

face first into another.

You want me to shut this down

so I don't disappoint him.

- Is that what you came to say?

- No.

I came to ask if you know PBASIC,

because you're going to need it

to program your robot.

Is that different than basic BASIC?

It's been a while.

Come by Wednesday night.

Not to brag or anything,

but I'm kind of a coding savant.

That's great. Thanks.

What time do you want me there?

7:
00 it is.

The paint's chipped,

but they still work.

I just need the motors inside.

These are great. Thank you.

I can help with clothes, too,

if you want to fix all of that.

What's wrong with this?

Everything.

If you're not gonna wear

a uniform anymore,

you gotta figure out

what kind of guy you are.

Are you a preppy guy?

Not a grungy guy.

Wait a minute.

How do you know what I wear?

I've decided you're a good guy.

Take your shirt off.

Right here?

Yeah.

No, no, no.

You can't. Don't tuck it in.

All right. You got 11 weeks.

Okay, so I drew up weekly targets.

Four weeks for R&D and two for...

You okay?

I didn't close the circuit, did I?

I'd put money on no.

I thought you were a genius.

I'm more of a theory guy.

I don't really make anything.

Are you allowed to build for us, sir?

If you think you have a chance to make it

to the competition in California, no.

'Cause you guys would be disqualified.

Then you're gonna have to

help us find someone who can.

You need a better angle.

Here.

You see the control I got?

That's all geometry.

I mean, that's all stuff

that you can learn in the Robotics Club.

Nerd club? No gracias.

Hey, they really need someone like you.

It's not my problem.

You know whose car this is? Yeah?

Well, let's see what Ms. Lowry thinks

about you casing her Lucinda Williams CDs.

Hey.

Santillan, I have missed you.

How long has it been? Two weeks?

Come on in. Come on.

No, not you. Just him. Thank you.

So, Lorenzo...

What do you know about Tuscany?

Nothing. I know, me neither.

I don't know anything about it.

But I intend to.

Because, by the end of the school year,

I'm gonna have enough miles

to get myself a free ticket,

and I plan on eat, pray,

loving my way through the place.

You're looking at me like,

why is she telling me this?

It's because it means

absolutely nothing can happen to my car,

that's gonna cost me any money.

Look, like I was telling him.

Him? You mean, Dr. Cameron?

Because I would strongly suggest

that you be respectful to him.

- Okay, so Dr. Cameron was the...

- Because in case you don't realize it,

he is the one who stands between you

and a jail cell in the country

of his choosing.

Anytime, kid.

I apologize for, like, what I did.

And...

And I'll do anything you say

to make it right.

I know this is wrong,

but this is my favorite part of the job.

Bye.

Lorenzo, right?

These are snap-action switches.

It's what regulates

a refrigerator light.

My fridge light doesn't do anything.

What's he doing here?

This is our new mechanic, Lorenzo.

No. Not gonna happen.

Cannot have him on the team, sir.

All right, cool. See you guys.

Hey, come on. Sit down. All right?

You don't know this kid, sir.

He's a weak link.

Well, actually, I do kinda know the kid.

He's your linchpin.

Which means we're not gonna

have any attitude, right, linchpin?

Lorenzo, there are four motors.

The two on the bottom control forward

and backward and also left and right.

These two on top...

Control up and down.

Can I go now?

You can if it works.

Front, back,

left, right.

If you want up down,

you've gotta get another switch.

If you wanna control speed,

I'd spring for a joystick,

you know, and all the stuff

that comes with it.

Lorenzo, this is really great work.

Whatever.

I guess if we can get him

to perform like this regularly...

I'm sitting right here.

Did you want to be

part of the planning process?

Do you really want

to help us work out our timeline?

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