It was eight o’clock at night when I finally sat down at my computer. I had something to do for almost every class, and I had my first soccer practice of the season. My coaches want to make sure we are in shape and do our best; even if it is just for fun. We have been playing together for about two years now, but none of us practiced over summer, so we needed to regain our footing. Reluctant to work on the next bit of homework, I booted up my computer. It seemed to take ages. With the screen glaring at me as I copied notes for math class and the fatigue from practice coming back for round two, I found it harder and harder to focus. I was not in the mood to work on math. My mind was elsewhere, but the symbols on the blinding screen found their way to me in my other world of adventure…

Captain Quadratic swiveled around in her chair to address the crew, “The system has shut down, and all Variables are lost. As you all know, the Variables are vital to the system, as they are responsible for running the functions. The Variables have left behind steady trails that have a chance of occasionally overlapping each other. Dr. Eliminate, I need you to narrow our options down. Maybe we can predict where they will go next.” Dr. Eliminate nodded in agreement, and began typing away on his computer. Captain Quadratic continued, “Miss Substitute, I need you to run another analysis of the system, see if there are any clues that might help Dr. Eliminate. Also, it would be great if you could stabilize the substitute power.” Substitute exited the command center, and hurried to check the system. Transform, a new recruit, timidly approached the captain, “Ma’am, the Variables could have made contact with their Parameter friends. They could be disguised as other functions. I could search for new functions on the graph.” Captain Quadratic was about to respond when Dr. Eliminate excitedly interjected, “Ma’am, I found the solution. The Variables are all heading toward Point (10, -7,3), a place for runaways to eat pizza before they take off again. If we go there now, we have a shot at catching them.” Captain Quadratic sighed in relief, “Good job. Plot a course that will take us straight there. Directrix and Ellipse, get ready.” When the crew reached Point (10, -7, 3), Directrix dropped into position to block any possible escape routes. Ellipse, surrounded the Variables, then signaled her partner, Focus, to beam them back up. The operation went smoothly.

If only I could say the same for my notes. I’m still confused about this… but the teacher will go over it tomorrow, so I should be fine. Now I need to read my book for English, and then hopefully get enough sleep.