Leo blinked. "Wait. You integrated art into the circuitry ?"
Maya, a junior from the Science magnet, wiped graphite from her fingers. Her partner, Leo, from the Global Leadership magnet, was arguing with Zara from Fine Arts.
The late-afternoon sun slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the consortium’s shared research lab. To an outsider, it looked like a standard classroom—but the cluttered whiteboards told a different story.
The three students exchanged looks. Two years ago, they’d been strangers from different sides of the district—the robotics nerd, the debate kid, the painter. Now? They were the team that could actually change their city.