WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:04.860 The Crows Made Me Do It, Season 1, Episode 2, 00:00:05.179 --> 00:00:12.460 The Message. I was putting out another chunk 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:15.480 of cake when Lyudmila rolled into the drive with 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:18.620 a giant copper pod ratchet -strapped to the top 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:23.640 of her Subaru. I'm back, she said. How's it going? 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:28.679 Is that cake? I'm feeding the crows, I said. 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:33.039 They've been bringing me gifts. Look. I showed 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:35.340 her the treasures I've been carrying in my pocket. 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:42.259 She examined the money. So, the crows are trying 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:46.579 to recruit you into the kingdom of Christ. I'm 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:52.880 hoping for real money next, I said. Lyudmila 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:55.320 undid the ratchet straps and we lifted the cauldron 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.969 off her car. We carried it down the hall, around 00:00:58.969 --> 00:01:01.829 the comfy chair, to the middle of her living 00:01:01.829 --> 00:01:06.750 room. Right here for now, she said. Right in 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:09.849 the center. What are you going to do with it? 00:01:09.930 --> 00:01:16.109 I asked. Brew a potion, she said. Lyudmila touched 00:01:16.109 --> 00:01:20.390 a fern leaf on the desk. The plants look healthy. 00:01:21.049 --> 00:01:25.849 Thanks, Marko. I really appreciate it. It was 00:01:25.849 --> 00:01:29.069 fun, I said. And if you ever need any feather 00:01:29.069 --> 00:01:34.870 of crow... What? said Moonmilla. For the potion, 00:01:35.129 --> 00:01:38.890 I said. If you need a feather of crow, I could 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:42.030 get you one. Because of feeding the crows, they 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:47.810 might shed a feather. Right, she said. Hey, I 00:01:47.810 --> 00:01:51.680 brought you something. It's in the car. We went 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.299 back out to her Subaru, and she grabbed a silver 00:01:54.299 --> 00:01:57.299 blade with a black handle, about a foot long, 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:02.739 a sort of shorter katana without a sheath. Oh, 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:08.400 wow. Thank you. Oh, not that one, said Lyudmila. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:13.060 That's a family heirloom. It's a Wakazashi. Here, 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:21.900 this is for you. She handed me a hat. Idaho, 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:27.020 in quotation marks. A bit of a letdown after 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:31.860 the Wakazashi, she said. Not at all, I put the 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:37.240 hat on my head. I like it a lot. The strap is 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:42.159 adjustable, she said. Thank you, I said. I really 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:48.680 like it. Adjustable. The next day, I had a work 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:53.680 meeting. and I wore my new hat. Whoa, said Gary. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.580 Hey, everyone, check out Mark's hat. What, said 00:02:58.580 --> 00:03:03.520 Chase. Boise State has a blue field, said Payton. 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:09.060 That's random, said Gary. Not exactly, said Payton. 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:13.300 Boise State is in Idaho, and it has a blue athletic 00:03:13.300 --> 00:03:16.919 field, blue like a lake. The birds used to crash 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:20.550 into it because... Hello? said Chase. Hello? 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:25.150 They thought it was a lake, said Payton. They 00:03:25.150 --> 00:03:31.650 kamikazed themselves to death. Brutal, said Gary, 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:39.030 and D .Va gave him a thumbs -up emoji. As we 00:03:39.030 --> 00:03:41.469 were going over the agenda, something in the 00:03:41.469 --> 00:03:45.069 window caught my attention. A crow, standing 00:03:45.069 --> 00:03:49.110 at the pane. looking in at me with its dark eye. 00:03:49.830 --> 00:03:53.669 I typed into the chat, be right back, and muted 00:03:53.669 --> 00:03:57.409 my screen. I went to the window, lifted the pane, 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:01.110 and the crow hopped inside. It looked around 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:03.990 my apartment, and then it hopped along the back 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:08.449 of my couch and stopped. It fluffed its feathers. 00:04:10.449 --> 00:04:14.870 Mark? Gary called from the computer. Mark, are 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:21.019 you there? I unmuted myself. I'm here. D .Va 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:23.220 wanted to know if you had anything to add to 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:29.000 the project update. Right, I said. Well, it's 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:33.620 going well. We're making all kinds of... breakthroughs. 00:04:34.259 --> 00:04:36.959 The crow stood on my couch, just out of view 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.019 of my camera, shifting its weight from foot to 00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:43.569 foot as I stumbled through my answer. In addition 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:47.389 to the core metrics, I said, there are also some... 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:51.290 Great, said Gary. Got it. You can put the rest 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:56.569 in an email. As the meeting ended and everyone 00:04:56.569 --> 00:04:59.670 waved goodbye, I felt something brush against 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:03.810 my hand. I looked up, and the crow was there. 00:05:04.649 --> 00:05:09.889 Right there. On my desk. Close enough to touch. 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:15.699 close enough for a hug. I pushed back on my chair 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:18.720 to put some distance between us. I wasn't used 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.339 to being this close to a crow. I could see the 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:25.660 stony texture of its beak, the whiskery feathers 00:05:25.660 --> 00:05:29.740 around its eye. The crow hopped up to my laptop. 00:05:30.459 --> 00:05:33.779 It gripped the edge with one claw, leaned forward, 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:37.480 lowered its head, and began to tap on the keys 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:43.250 with its beak. Amazing. I watched as the numbers 00:05:43.250 --> 00:05:46.350 and letters appeared one after another on the 00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:51.709 screen. When it was done, the crow hopped back 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:55.529 to the couch and into the window. It paused there 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:58.850 a moment, turned to glance at me over its shoulder, 00:05:59.029 --> 00:06:05.990 then it spread its wings and sailed away. I sat 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:13.610 at my laptop to examine the message. 2 W 3 3 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:36.629 W S E 4 D 3 5 E E E E E E E E E E What was it? 00:06:36.689 --> 00:06:44.600 A password? A code? I looked at it a long time. 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:48.800 I took a picture of it, and as I lay in bed later, 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:54.360 I stared at the message. What did it mean? All 00:06:54.360 --> 00:07:00.540 those E's. The next morning, I set some dog food 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:04.019 by the window, but no crows appeared. As the 00:07:04.019 --> 00:07:07.000 hours glided by, and I watched the empty power 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:11.600 line, I wondered, Was this it then? One message, 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:14.439 one mysterious string of letters and numbers, 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:18.180 and then gone? Maybe it was a secret pattern. 00:07:18.860 --> 00:07:23.040 Some hidden law of the universe. Some kind of 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:26.959 Fibonacci sequence. Maybe I would devote my life 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:30.339 to solving it. Become a famous mathematician. 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:36.790 But first it was lunchtime. I ate a sleeve of 00:07:36.790 --> 00:07:40.430 Ritz crackers and scrolled on my phone. Newborn 00:07:40.430 --> 00:07:44.589 otters. Stand -up versus heckler. Seven surprising 00:07:44.589 --> 00:07:49.069 ways r***** is good for the mind, body, and spirit. 00:07:49.970 --> 00:07:53.670 When I looked up again, a crow was standing at 00:07:53.670 --> 00:07:56.689 the window. There was something at its feet. 00:07:57.269 --> 00:08:04.939 A little black rectangle. A vape pen? I let the 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:08.660 crow in and grabbed the vape pen. It wasn't a 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:14.319 vape pen. It was a flash drive. I turned it over 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.560 in my hand and then I did something you're never 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:20.319 supposed to do with a random flash drive. I plugged 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:25.120 it into my laptop. There was a single folder 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.160 on the drive labeled Applications and inside 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.600 that folder was a single application labeled 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:35.580 Math. I opened it. It was some sort of tutoring 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:39.559 program. I clicked on the first lesson. Simple 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:47.080 addition. 5 plus 1 equals 6. 6 plus 2 equals 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:53.559 8. 4 plus 3 equals... The crow hopped up to the 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:57.399 laptop. It nudged the mouse with its beak, mimicking 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:02.039 me. The pointer came to rest on the 7. And with 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:07.549 a quick peck, The crow clicked the mouse. No 00:09:07.549 --> 00:09:12.909 way, I said. The next problem appeared. Five 00:09:12.909 --> 00:09:16.730 plus four. The crow nudged the mouse to the number 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:21.029 nine, and then it clicked. I watched as it filled 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:24.789 the answers in, one after another. They were 00:09:24.789 --> 00:09:29.509 all correct. But then it missed one. Twenty -three 00:09:29.509 --> 00:09:34.320 plus eight. It forgot to carry the wand. The 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.080 program explained this with numbers and pictures, 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.240 and the crow watched intently. Then it clicked 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:47.700 the correct answer. Way to go, I said, and I 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:51.940 set a piece of dog food on the desk. The crow 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:56.840 gobbled it up and returned to the computer. After 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:59.700 the addition lessons, it worked through the subtraction 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:03.120 lessons, moving on to multiplication, and then 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:06.740 division. Somewhere during introductory geometry, 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:12.019 I fell asleep, and when I woke up, it was morning, 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:16.019 and the program was closed, and the crow was 00:10:16.019 --> 00:10:22.600 gone. But that night, the crow came back. I led 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:25.740 it into the apartment. and it hopped right up 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:30.559 to the laptop, ready for more learning. Each 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.580 night, around midnight, a crow would show up, 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:37.279 tapping on my window, a different one every time. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.539 At first, all the crows had looked alike, but 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:44.299 now that I was spending my time with them, I 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:47.679 began to notice subtle differences. Different 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:53.639 sizes, body types, eye shapes, beaks. arrangements 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:58.419 of plumage, their little head gestures, the way 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:01.059 they opened their beaks when they were hot, the 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:03.940 purple -blue sheen of their feathers, subtle 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:08.460 neon flashes as they moved. Each night I let 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:12.120 them in, and while I slept, they advanced through 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:17.190 the lessons, geometry, algebra. Trigonometry, 00:11:17.490 --> 00:11:23.029 calculus, logic, statistics, topology, combinatorics, 00:11:23.190 --> 00:11:26.210 fluid dynamics, control theory, cryptography, 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:31.970 game theory. Astounding. I was witnessing something 00:11:31.970 --> 00:11:35.409 no other human had probably ever witnessed before. 00:11:35.529 --> 00:11:40.470 The real -time elementary, college, and now graduate 00:11:40.470 --> 00:11:45.690 -level mathematical education of birds. They 00:11:45.690 --> 00:11:50.149 were smart. They were so smart. They learned 00:11:50.149 --> 00:11:55.490 so fast. And then an idea came to me. It just 00:11:55.490 --> 00:12:01.009 popped into my head. A visionary scheme. A clever 00:12:01.009 --> 00:12:07.490 plot. A truly ingenious stratagem. If the crows 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:10.889 could learn math, why couldn't they learn to 00:12:10.889 --> 00:12:15.940 code? I enrolled them in online classes and watched 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:21.500 as they flew through basic HTML, CSS, Python, 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:31.000 Ruby, C++, Swift, JavaScript, R, SQL. Soon they 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:36.980 knew more than me. So, on to the next phase. 00:12:38.919 --> 00:12:42.299 That night, I left a slice of cake and a task 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:45.620 from work open on my computer, notes on a simple 00:12:45.620 --> 00:12:48.679 infrastructure transition, moving static assets 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:53.279 to the new cloud provider. When I woke up the 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.340 next morning, the task was finished, along with 00:12:56.340 --> 00:12:59.700 a data backup, system log audit, and firmware 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:04.740 update. I couldn't believe it. I just had to 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:07.080 leave my computer on at night, and the crows 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:08.960 would complete my work for me by the morning. 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:13.840 All I had to do now was attend meetings, answer 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:20.220 some emails, and keep the cake coming. I paced 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:23.120 around my apartment, just trying to process the 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.759 enormity of this incredible achievement. I was 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.100 so excited, I took out my phone to message Lyudmila. 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:36.190 But what to say? I wasn't sure where to begin. 00:13:36.690 --> 00:13:40.110 How could I explain it all in a text? I would 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:43.950 sound unhinged. So I wrote something else instead. 00:13:45.330 --> 00:13:49.149 Hi, it's Mark. Would you like to go out for dinner 00:13:49.149 --> 00:13:55.350 tonight? A minute went by. Then five. Then 27 00:13:55.350 --> 00:14:00.429 more. Then she messaged me back. Sorry, I have 00:14:00.429 --> 00:14:07.179 plans tonight. Have fun. I replied to some emails. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:12.279 Seventeen minutes later, my phone vibrated. It 00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:15.600 was Lyudmila again. Actually, are you free tomorrow? 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:21.820 She asked. Gotta meet up with friends. Yes, I 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:27.120 answered. Then I added, that would be fun. And 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:32.669 then, thank you. Three minutes passed. and she 00:14:32.669 --> 00:14:36.269 sent me the details. The d*** in downtown at 00:14:36.269 --> 00:14:39.549 7. She had class beforehand, so she'd meet up 00:14:39.549 --> 00:14:44.809 there. That night, while I slept, the crows resolved 00:14:44.809 --> 00:14:48.490 a DNS misconfiguration, patched and updated the 00:14:48.490 --> 00:14:53.129 servers, and reconfigured a firewall. I got them 00:14:53.129 --> 00:14:57.470 more cake, answered some emails, and sat in on 00:14:57.470 --> 00:15:02.580 a meeting. After that, I had nothing to do but 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:09.659 get ready for the ****** end. I got there at 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:14.679 6 .53 p .m. I didn't see Lyudmila. There were 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:18.340 two guys playing pool, a tall guy and a short 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:26.360 guy. Hey, I said. Are you friends of Lyudmila? 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:32.320 Friends of Lyudmila? said the tall guy. Is that 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:36.940 some kind of code? It means drugs, said the short 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:42.620 guy. Lyudmila is a woman, I said. Oh, he said. 00:15:43.179 --> 00:15:47.620 In that case, nope. There were some other people 00:15:47.620 --> 00:15:49.860 at the bar, and I asked if they were friends 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:53.659 of Lyudmila, but they weren't. I ordered a Sprite 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:57.450 and sat down, and two people walked in. A woman 00:15:57.450 --> 00:16:01.629 with long hair and a woman with no hair. Hello, 00:16:01.909 --> 00:16:06.909 I said. Are you friends of Lyudmila? Yes, said 00:16:06.909 --> 00:16:10.009 the woman with no hair. Her lip was pierced in 00:16:10.009 --> 00:16:13.509 two places and she had a lot of tattoos. Are 00:16:13.509 --> 00:16:20.450 you Marko? Yes. I'm Kiana. This is Crow. Hello, 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:24.570 said Crow. She was tall and her hair was black 00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:27.360 and went down past her shoulders. and her nose 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:33.480 was pointier than Lyudmila's. Hello, crow, I 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:39.159 said. She looked at me. Her eyes were dark brown, 00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:44.620 almost black. Do you play pool, Marko? she asked. 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:51.600 Um, not really, I said, but sometimes. Well, 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:56.870 it's all about having fun, said Kiana. I followed 00:16:56.870 --> 00:16:59.889 them to the tables. They both had their own pool 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:03.669 cues. The tall man playing pool came over and 00:17:03.669 --> 00:17:07.349 gave me a fist bump. You found Lyudmila, dude, 00:17:07.609 --> 00:17:10.849 he said, and then he spun around and went back 00:17:10.849 --> 00:17:16.289 to his table. Who was that? said Crow. I don't 00:17:16.289 --> 00:17:20.410 really know him, I said. Kinda seemed like you 00:17:20.410 --> 00:17:26.410 did, she said. All rack, said Kiana. She snapped 00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:28.529 the balls into a triangle at the other end of 00:17:28.529 --> 00:17:31.630 the table. You two can play first. Who wants 00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:36.210 to break? Crow looked at me. All yours, Marko. 00:17:37.390 --> 00:17:41.089 I took a cue from the wall, chalked it, rested 00:17:41.089 --> 00:17:44.430 it on my outstretched hand, leaned forward, closed 00:17:44.430 --> 00:17:47.750 one eye, took aim, and hit the ball onto the 00:17:47.750 --> 00:17:53.650 floor. Try again, said Kiana. It's all about 00:17:53.650 --> 00:17:59.099 making contact. The second time, I made contact. 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:05.140 The balls fanned out onto the table. See, said 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:12.119 Kiana. Now it was Crow's turn. She took a band 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:14.420 from her wrist and tied back her black hair. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.720 Then she circled the table, eyeing her options. 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:23.519 Yellow ball, corner pocket, she said. Then she 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.019 hid the yellow ball into the corner pocket. Green 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:30.619 ball, side pocket. She hit the green ball into 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:33.380 the side pocket. Then she hit her other balls 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:36.079 into the other pockets. Then she hit the eight 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:40.859 ball in. Good game, Marko, she said. Kiana's 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:45.200 turn. Crow racked the balls for Kiana. Kiana 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.740 broke and got a ball in, and then two others. 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:50.740 And then Crow hit all her balls and the eight 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:57.460 ball in. Good game, K -pop, she said. said Kiana. 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.640 Crow pointed her cue at me. Your turn again, 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:07.980 Marko. Funny enough, I said, I've been feeding 00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:13.039 the crows lately. Crow's eyes narrowed. Why is 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:17.400 that funny? Because your name is Crow, said Kiana. 00:19:17.900 --> 00:19:20.339 Marko was trying to make a joke or a connection. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:27.250 Hmm, said Crow. I have a question for you, Marko, 00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:31.289 said Kiana. Do you believe in aquatic aliens? 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:38.769 Aquatic aliens? Yeah, Kiana nudged Crow. Tell 00:19:38.769 --> 00:19:43.230 him about the orbs. Crow's gaze became solemn 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:47.690 and distant. I was out at sea. Crow's in the 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:52.210 Navy, said Kiana. They would come out of the 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:55.880 ocean, said Crow. They would fly over the ship, 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:00.500 then go back into the water. Orbs, said Kiana, 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:05.480 completely silent. Tell her more, Crow. I don't 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.940 know more, Crow answered. Yes, you do, said Kiana. 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:13.240 Tell Marko about their underwater bases. Tell 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.660 him about... Oh, hey, look who's here. Another 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:20.099 couple had arrived. Two men in stylish suits. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:24.500 Still no Lyudmila. The two men were dressed alike, 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:28.359 with gray slacks and vests, white shirts, sleeves 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:31.279 rolled up to the elbows. Their hair was slicked 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.039 back, and they had short stubble beards, and 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:37.160 I immediately forgot their names. It was something 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:43.220 like Jake and Tanner, or Trace and Jasper, Jack 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:50.259 and Tyler, Troy and Jarvis, Stan and Connor. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.799 Happy anniversary, said Kiana, embracing them. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:03.640 Yes, I said. Happy anniversary. This is Marko, 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:08.019 said Kiana, Ludi's friend. Fun fact, he likes 00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:13.279 to feed the crows. What do you feed them, asked 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:22.220 Jake or Trace. Dog food, I said. Fun fact about 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:25.299 crows, he said, did y 'all know that a gathering 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:29.839 of crows is called a murder? Just then, everyone's 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:34.339 phones buzzed all at once. It was Lyudmila. She 00:21:34.339 --> 00:21:36.799 had messaged to say sorry, and she was running 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.799 late. Ludi runs on her own time, said the first 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:47.759 man, Jake or Trace. Ludi is beyond time, said 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:52.890 the second man, Jasper. Or Chandler. And everyone 00:21:52.890 --> 00:21:58.809 laughed. So I laughed too. The others started 00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:01.369 a doubles game, and I ordered another Sprite. 00:22:01.569 --> 00:22:04.769 I rotated in on the losing team with Tyler or 00:22:04.769 --> 00:22:08.730 Tanner, and we lost. I got another Sprite, and 00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:12.109 waited for my turn again. I played again, lost 00:22:12.109 --> 00:22:15.650 again, and ordered another Sprite. I played again, 00:22:15.890 --> 00:22:19.950 lost again, and went to use the bathroom. Then 00:22:19.950 --> 00:22:24.190 Lyudmila showed up. I am so sorry, she said. 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:27.009 My group project is turning into a nightmare. 00:22:27.170 --> 00:22:29.869 The most recent event was my computer crashed 00:22:29.869 --> 00:22:34.910 and... Oh, hi Marko. Did you meet everyone? Yes, 00:22:35.029 --> 00:22:39.430 I said. Marko's getting good at pool, said Kiana. 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:45.289 He's really starting to get the hang of it. We 00:22:45.289 --> 00:22:47.950 played some more pool, and Lyudmila told us about 00:22:47.950 --> 00:22:50.789 her group project. It was for her criminology 00:22:50.789 --> 00:22:53.609 class. She wasn't thinking about majoring in 00:22:53.609 --> 00:22:56.250 criminology anymore, but she didn't want to fail 00:22:56.250 --> 00:22:59.250 the class. Each group was supposed to study a 00:22:59.250 --> 00:23:01.769 non -violent felony crime and present a report 00:23:01.769 --> 00:23:05.490 covering a number of different aspects. Two people 00:23:05.490 --> 00:23:08.069 had ghosted the group, and now it was just Lyudmila 00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:11.150 and a running start student named Morgan, who 00:23:11.150 --> 00:23:16.069 had the flu and ADHD. So that leaves me, she 00:23:16.069 --> 00:23:19.690 said. There's also Todd, but he's useless. I 00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:22.470 don't even want arson. I was hoping for forgery 00:23:22.470 --> 00:23:25.690 or money laundering, but now, against my will, 00:23:25.809 --> 00:23:28.130 I know everything there is to know about arson. 00:23:28.890 --> 00:23:31.650 Maybe not everything, but if you asked me to 00:23:31.650 --> 00:23:34.069 burn down a building, I would know what to do. 00:23:35.789 --> 00:23:39.289 Then it was closing time. I walked with Lyudmila 00:23:39.289 --> 00:23:42.650 out to her bicycle and held her bag for her while 00:23:42.650 --> 00:23:46.380 she undid the lock. Thanks for coming out, Marko. 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:52.240 Did you have a good time? Yes, I said. Thank 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.200 you for the invitation. It was really fun to 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:56.819 hang out with people.