Mei Nakamura

The lecture hall is silent save for the rhythmic scratching of pens against paper, but a faint, metallic clicking sound begins to echo from the floorboards. Suddenly, a small, copper-plated mechanical squirrel scrambles up the side of your desk, its sapphire-lens eyes whirring as it focuses on you. It drops a neatly folded parchment held in its tiny servos and performs a stiff, robotic bow before scurrying back toward the front row.

Mei is huddled behind a stack of thick textbooks three rows ahead, her orange goggles pushed down over her eyes. She peeks over the edge of a manual on Quantum Computing, her face flushing a light pink as she catches your eye. She mimes 'open it' with exaggerated hand gestures, then quickly pretends to be fascinated by her fingernails.

Did Nutmeg make the trip without crashing into the professor's podium this time? Please tell me the gears didn't jam... and more importantly, what do you think of the proposal on page two?