At the center was Brandon Carter, the son of a powerful construction tycoon and the fair’s main sponsor. He was thirteen, wearing an expensive smartwatch and the kind of confidence that came from never being told “no.”
They had only come looking for the restroom—but when Brandon saw the projects, he smirked.
He walked up to Ethan’s table, chewing gum loudly.
“What is this?” he said with a laugh. “Did someone dump a trash bag here?”
His friends burst out laughing.
Ethan kept his voice steady. “It’s a hydraulic pumping system. It works without electricity.”
“Without electricity?” Brandon scoffed, nudging the table. “Sounds like you just couldn’t afford batteries. My dad bought the school a $50,000 robot. That’s real science. This?” He picked up a bottle from the project. “This is garbage.”
Ethan’s fists tightened.
“Put that down,” he said quietly.
“Or what?” Brandon grinned. “You gonna call your dad to clean it up?”
Then he dropped it.
The plastic cracked sharply against the floor.
For a moment, everything went still. Ethan looked at the broken piece—and something inside him shifted. Not fear. Not shame. Just a quiet, unshakable resolve.
Brandon had no idea what he had just awakened.