Sara has a minion!

Aubrey the Astralflaik

The smell of chalk and burning oil fills the room as a gentle sea breeze blows through the open window. Mountains of crumpled papers, covered in scribbled symbols you vaguely recall from high school calculus, almost reach the ceiling. The flickering candlelight radiating from a hanging, old-fashioned lamp reveals a figure asleep at the desk. Sara has once again passed out after working for three days straight.

--

Sara was designed for greatness. And I mean that in the most literal sense. With cooperation from the Subeta Genome Project, the SAI build Sara from the DNA up. Genes from only the most brilliant members were screened and isolated until they had created what was to be the greatest mathematician in history.

But something had gone wrong. Something the scientists could not have possibly planned for. A tiny, one base missense mutation in the early stages of her development. But how much damage could one little mismatched base cause?

A lot, it turns out. In her early life Sara seemed perfectly normal. Better than normal, in fact. A genius. She learned to tie her shoes before she could even walk. Her repertoire of vocabulary at just 14 months was more impressive than most 14 year olds.

The devastating effects of the mutation became evident as they began to teach her basic math. It was clear she understood the concepts, but the answers she would give were wrong. But not completely wrong - simply in the wrong order. The two-year-old could add and subtract with ease using beads, fingers, even an abacus; but as soon as she tried the calculations on paper the numbers would become all muddled and thus, incorrect.

Sara was dyslexic.

What could the scientists do? What good is a dyslexic mathematician? She would never amount to their expectations. And keeping her in the program would cost them millions. But they couldn't just abandon her. The scientists had all grown to love the bubbly little girl, and were also curious as to what would become of their little project.

Jack Cardale, the beloved leader of the SAI, volunteered to adopt Sara. Unknown to most, the brilliant scientist had a soft spot, and couldn't live to see his precious little experiment shipped off to the adoption center. She was to live with him in his lighthouse, a few miles from the SAI headquarters.

It wasn't long until she figured out what was going on. She was a genius, after all. Once she realized her potential, she demanded to continue her accelerated learning program and genetic therapy, despite her dyslexia.

The scientists were fully aware they did not have the funds to nurture her brilliant mind properly, so Jack came up with an idea.

"Sara, there is one problem that no one, even your old man, can finish. Solve this equation and we will put you back into the program," he said, as he handed her a small slip of paper.

She gently cradled the scrap of paper as she rushed to her room at the top of the lighthouse. And there she would stay, day in and day out, scribbling on paper, working to solve the equation, longing for the day she would beat her dyslexia and win the knowledge and abilities she desperately craved.