In the 2030s, the most valued commodity in the entire world is not oil. Nor is it gold or uranium. No, it is brainpower.
Wars are no longer won with tanks or nuclear weapons. They are won with having the most advanced machines ever conceived, and having the most brilliant and talented engineers to keep them running and to keep the enemy's drones offline. Intelligence is power, today more than ever. It's no good to have a thousand ordinary scientists - you need one truly genius one.
To address this new need for extraordinary talent, a new branch of the school system was created. All kids were tested at 18 years old, and the most brilliant of the most brilliant were taken in to new Master's Academies, a new set of boarding schools.
In these schools, these super-talented youngsters are given top-of-the line education by the best teachers the country had to offer. They live at the campus, are expected to spend all their time studying, and graduate with PhDs by the time they are twenty-one. To ensure the Academies have the best possible conditions to accomplish these goals, they are given complete control over their school and the students: no laws apply inside the Academy walls, other than those made by the Academy board. As long as the Academies produce excellent results, they have no fear of losing these privileges.
***
Snowdrop Academy of Technology, an esteemed school of science and engineering, was one of these Master's Academies. Over the years, it had produced several Nobel prize winners and many of the country's most esteemed scientists. Getting into Snowdrop Academy was tough even if you were among the very few who managed to pass the national test. The school had always had a stellar record, and it received nothing but praise outside its walls.
Now, however, the school found itself in a new kind of bind. Over the years, all these genius students had grown arrogant and cocky. They believed they were the best of the best, better than anyone else, including their teachers. These students had always been raised and pampered in privilege. Most of them didn't consider any rules to affect them. And in a lot of ways, they were right: no matter how much they misbehaved, skipped classes, vandalized the property and otherwise broke any school rule they cared enough to ignore, they were always too clever to get caught.
Behaviour record at the Snowdrop Academy was at an all-time low... and worst of all, it was starting to affect the students' grades. This would not do - it was a risk to the Academy reputation.
Catching all the delinquents in the act, one by one, and giving them proper punishment was basically impossible. They would have to think of another way.
Something completely outside the box.
Wars are no longer won with tanks or nuclear weapons. They are won with having the most advanced machines ever conceived, and having the most brilliant and talented engineers to keep them running and to keep the enemy's drones offline. Intelligence is power, today more than ever. It's no good to have a thousand ordinary scientists - you need one truly genius one.
To address this new need for extraordinary talent, a new branch of the school system was created. All kids were tested at 18 years old, and the most brilliant of the most brilliant were taken in to new Master's Academies, a new set of boarding schools.
In these schools, these super-talented youngsters are given top-of-the line education by the best teachers the country had to offer. They live at the campus, are expected to spend all their time studying, and graduate with PhDs by the time they are twenty-one. To ensure the Academies have the best possible conditions to accomplish these goals, they are given complete control over their school and the students: no laws apply inside the Academy walls, other than those made by the Academy board. As long as the Academies produce excellent results, they have no fear of losing these privileges.
***
Snowdrop Academy of Technology, an esteemed school of science and engineering, was one of these Master's Academies. Over the years, it had produced several Nobel prize winners and many of the country's most esteemed scientists. Getting into Snowdrop Academy was tough even if you were among the very few who managed to pass the national test. The school had always had a stellar record, and it received nothing but praise outside its walls.
Now, however, the school found itself in a new kind of bind. Over the years, all these genius students had grown arrogant and cocky. They believed they were the best of the best, better than anyone else, including their teachers. These students had always been raised and pampered in privilege. Most of them didn't consider any rules to affect them. And in a lot of ways, they were right: no matter how much they misbehaved, skipped classes, vandalized the property and otherwise broke any school rule they cared enough to ignore, they were always too clever to get caught.
Behaviour record at the Snowdrop Academy was at an all-time low... and worst of all, it was starting to affect the students' grades. This would not do - it was a risk to the Academy reputation.
Catching all the delinquents in the act, one by one, and giving them proper punishment was basically impossible. They would have to think of another way.
Something completely outside the box.