Early morning sunlight filtered into the dusty blinds of Room 304, heating the messy desk where Aaryan slept, head on arm. His laptop remained on, the gentle glow of the system's interface gently pulsing in standby.
> **[Ongoing Task: Design a Wearable Prototype – Time Remaining: 12:03:27]**
Aaryan blinked the slumber from his eyes and straightened up, cracking his neck. The timer served as a cold reminder. The system had allowed him twenty-four hours. Twenty-four and only half of that was past.
"Alright," he growled, rubbing his temples. "Let's create something that doesn't blow up."
He reached for a notebook, took a few quick scribbles, and opened up a new clean code project file. The idea was straightforward: a wearable biometric monitor that could track real-time vitals—pulse, temperature, perhaps gesture recognition. Not groundbreaking, but a good start. Something he actually had a chance to finish on time.
> **"AI Suggestion: Start with base sensor array. Optimize for available hardware."**
The AI spoke through the laptop speaker—calm, useful, and just slightly detached enough to sound robotic.
"Right," he nodded, grabbing his kit. "But we'll need better parts."
The engineering block was already active when Aaryan arrived. Students were hunched over breadboards and code editors, some whispering anxiously, others too focused to notice anything else. Aaryan made his way to the back of the lab, where old parts and discarded devices were sorted into labeled bins.
He dug through one of them, labeled *SALVAGE: UNVERIFIED*. A rusted flex sensor. Usable. A loose ESP32 chip. Jackpot. An old smartwatch strap. Perfect. He laid everything out on his station and immediately began connecting the components, fingers moving quickly, thoughts syncing with the AI's flow of suggestions.
> **"Sensor wear: 42%. Life expectancy: 48 hours under full load. Acceptable for prototype testing."**
He soldered and set up the wiring with care. The pulse sensor went online, but the values fluctuated out of control. His display reported nonsensical heart rate values—42 to 180 over seconds. The temperature module was worse, sending phantom data with each movement of his hands.
"Ugh," Aaryan groaned, leaning back in his chair. "What am I missing?"
"You've got your VCC and ground confused," was the voice from behind him.
He turned to find Ishika standing there, holding a folder and looking at him with a mildly amused expression.
"Oh," he said, blinking. "Seriously?"
She came over and leaned in a little, surveying his equipment. "Also, you're using a standard thermistor. Try this instead." She handed him a small packet—an advanced biometric sensor strip.
"I had some spares from my neuro-monitoring project," she added with a small smile.
Thanks," he said, truly astounded. "That's. actually perfect."
Thanks to her and the new sensor, everything was different. The AI reacted instantly, tweaking voltage tolerances, executing new diagnostic simulations. Pulse readings stabilized, thermal data stabilized, and the Bluetooth module hooked up with ease to his interface.
> **"Diagnostics Passed. Operational Stability: 91%"**
The final prototype was not flashy, but it was sleek and useful: a wristband with sensors built in, a live display of vitals, and gesture input translated through machine learning inference.
> **"Task Completion Verified."**
> **[Mini-Task Completed: Wearable Prototype Functional]**
> **Reward: Nano Battery Blueprint – Tier I Unlocked**
> *Bonus: System Stability Increased. Device Integration Level I Achieved.*
The system displayed a new schematic—intricate and elegant. The nano battery blueprint pulsed faintly, waiting for the next phase.
Aaryan leaned back in his chair and exhaled. This wasn't just code anymore. It was tangible. Functional. And his.
"Looks solid," Ishika said from behind him. "Not bad for a first attempt."
He smiled. "Couldn't have done it without your sensor."
"You'd have figured it out," she said, turning to go. "Eventually."
Their gazes crossed for an instant. Something was exchanged between them—recognition, perhaps respect—but neither of them said anything.
As she turned to leave, the system beeped softly.
> **[Upcoming Opportunity: Innovation Showcase Submission Window Opens in 3 Days]**
Aaryan glared at the message, eyes narrowing slightly. The tempo was increasing. Tasks were changing. Rewards becoming more sophisticated.
He leaned across, shut down the lab terminal, and closed his laptop. Outside the window, the sun was high already. Inside, life was transformed.
And that was just the start.