During the waiting time between the result of the VMC final and the HSNCT, the town threw their support behind the quiz bowl team now that the mathletic season is over. A season that's practically oneiric.

However, quiz bowl does not generate the same fervor as the VMC final or the EGMO even though the Venomous Agendas compete at the HSNCT for the first time. Marcia's parents ask them a favor the day before their departure for Atlanta, where the HSNCT is held for years:

"My daughter would have liked that you both be there for her; it's her moment of glory, she wants you to be there for the national championship. An ultimate tournament for the Venomous Agendas academic teams" Marcia's mother asks Gen and Krista. "We took a day off from work to go, we don't want to miss this!"

"I suppose it's a return of favor for Marcia having sent to me the class notes and assignments while I was away at Kutaisi! I accept" Gen responds to Marcia's mother.

"A road trip for us as seniors. I accept willingly since I never left the state; we might have the right to relax after the final exams" Krista adds.

« Mom, dad, I will be gone to Atlanta with Marcia and her parents for the entire Memorial Day weekend to encourage the Venomous Agendas at the HSNCT » Gen texts her parents once the decision is made to encourage Marcia in person at the HSNCT.

During a team meeting, how the Nationals work, as applied to them, is explained to the team.

"We have ten games to play in the preliminary round. On Saturday, we play seven games, either in the morning or in the afternoon, and we are in the morning. On Sunday morning, we play our last three games and, if, at the end of the preliminary round, we perform well enough, we go to the playoffs" the coach, Warren, explains.

"But what matters to us is not to win, but taking part" William, the male veteran who caused the loss of the final against Jesuit, adds.

"To determine against whom to play, there's the card system, which ensures that we play against a team with an identical win-loss record, or within one win in either direction. At the start of the game, we must hand over our card to the moderator, and at the end of the game, we are given the higher card if we win, or the lowest if we lose. That's how we'll determine against whom we play"

"But the Marriott Marquis is easy enough to get lost in" adds the other male on the team.

"Let me make that clear: it won't simply be about « if that opponent is weaker in math and science, Imélie will play, Marcia otherwise ». If a player appears to underperform in a given field, that player will be benched for the next half-game"

"Even though I didn't play as much as the others, I still played well in what little play time I did have" Imélie pleads.

One must not obsess over one's performance level. Imélie always appeared more perfectionistic to me than the others in the math practices, and I assume she's still pretty good at non-quantitative subjects, but for some reason, wasn't traumatized at the Purple Comet, probably because she was given the easiest problems, Marcia thinks, while Florence wonders how the coach will be able to make the determination of who's good at what among the opponents.

In the meantime, even if the result is not yet known for the VMC final, we know, however, the VMC switched to a medal system as used at the EGMO and at the IMO but based on team performances. It's also applied retroactively to the SRA final, in which case 13 gold medals are awarded for last year.

In Marcia's parents' car, which leaves early in the morning, the two girls, sitting on the rear bench, start asking quiz bowl questions:

"During this war, soldiers from the 12th battalion published a newspaper called the Wipers Times. An outbreak of a sickness eminent in this war, that some theorists think is caused by aspirin poisoning, happened in Fort Riley, in Kansas. A sickness was named after the country of Alfonso XIII after belligerents..." Krista asks.

"World War One. The Memorial Day incident took place when workers in this industry were killed in Chicago while they were on strike for the SWOC union. A company in this non-banking industry was founded by Charles Schwab in the city of Betlehem" Gen asks.

"Steel"

"You seem to be good beyond mathematics..." Marcia's mother comments.

"Quiz bowl and mathletics both attract high-achieving students. However, I would say that often, those who excel at quiz bowl are generally very fast and academic generalists, while mathletics rewards intellectual depth. Marcia talked about her mental gearbox as her greatest intellectual asset" Krista explains. "That's how she is seemingly able to perform well in both"

"What the hell is a mental gearbox? Maybe it corresponds to something I know under another name" Marcia's father asks.

"A mental gearbox, in this context, represents the ability to adapt its mental efforts to the context in which we are. Yet quiz bowl is a team thing, at least the way Marcia talked about it to us. But I focused on mathletics since this single-variable calculus tournament last year put me under the spotlight with it. I wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible and get the most mathletic glory and quiz bowl would have hurt me. I could have done quiz bowl if we didn't qualify for the Square Root of the Answer final last year" Gen explains to him.

"At my old school there was no quiz bowl. Everything people could take part in for academic competition was limited to the math team. I said at the dinner that possession of mathematical talent was socially problematic in an ungendered way, I should have said that possession of academic talent was socially problematic in an ungendered way; it was not limited to mathematics alone"

Meanwhile, Warren has question marks about Imélie. Imélie is poised to become the math captain as well as of quiz bowl next year. Wouldn't that be putting too much pressure on her? Next to him, the others are visibly nervous because they will face new opponents from elsewhere in the country. Opponents which, for them, have nothing to do with even those at the state championship but they all earned their spots.

"You are all nervous, but our opponents are as well!" Warren points out to his players.

"Please know it, our opponents can rely on a vast selection of extracurricular activities such as science bowl, academic decathlon, history bowl, all considered traditional sources of players for quiz bowl. But it's not because our selection of extracurriculars is smaller that we'll be done in!" Florence argues.

"Certainly, you know our opponents come from a variety of academic backgrounds. Some will be mathletes like me, others will do debates like Florence, others still will prefer to do arts" Marcia points out to her teammates.

"It's not like Captain Shreve or Archbishop Rummel, that we beat earlier this season, and I wonder how, with three or four mathletes respectively, they could hope to qualify for the state championship" the other male veteran is questioning. "The neighboring parish beat both schools at Dutchtown, had a better balance and couldn't qualify for the state championship either!"

The players keep asking to each other questions from past national championships while they continue their trip to Atlanta; they realize the clues are much harder than during the state championship, especially at the start of questions called toss-ups, which are much longer than bonuses, which look more like questions on trivia games such as Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy.

If one answers correctly before reaching the power mark, a toss-up is worth 15 points, otherwise, 10. A correct toss-up entitles a team to three bonuses, worth 10 points each. It's an extraordinary opportunity to finish high school beautifully, before the graduation and the prom that ensues. The result is not important; the unexpected opportunity is what matters to me, Florence thinks while Curtis is not present. Luckily the revenues of mathletics team, in particular those from the Math Madness and the EGMO, of which I have a share of responsibility, made this possible.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Saturday morning, after random distribution of cards, the Venomous Agendas find themselves with an unexpected opponent in its opening game. During the presentation of the game, the moderator goes through the motions...

"This is round one in the morning prelims at the 2024 NAQT high school national championship tournament. This game pits the seventy-three card against the two hundred and forty-five card. From Massachusetts we have Boston Latin..."

Boston Latin. This school is much stronger in history and literature, but is a little weak in math and science, the coach thinks, while pointing at Imélie before the game formally starts. We play, in our opening game, one of the best-known magnet schools in the country? I know it's a risky wager, but audacity can win big in quiz bowl!

"Imélie, you will play this game"

Very well. I must not let the institutional reputation of our opponents, which is much better than our own, intimidate me! Imélie thinks, while Marcia is sidelined, ready to replace a player that underperforms.

"Here's toss-up one: A politician from this region was held hostage after playing football on his front lawn by members of the "Liberation Cell". This region's government was persuaded to approve the Constitution Act of 1982 at the Meech Lake Accords"

Meech Lake Accords? That directly led to this failed referendum in 1995! Florence thinks, while clue #2, Meech Lake, alerted her.

"Florence?" The moderator asks after Florence's buzzer rings.

"Québec"

"Fifteen. Bonus number one: The prediction of W and Z bosons in the 1960s was a major breakthrough on the path to a "Theory of Everything". Answer these questions about unified field theory, for ten points each..."

Here it's clear Imélie is not a mere « rental player » and that momentum, early in this game, is with the Venomous Agendas but everything can change very quickly. Good Lord! Something's fishy! Imélie thinks, while the Wolfpack seems to hang on, using its great strength in literature to score points in literary toss-ups while it's a game of speed when it comes to geography, history or, to a lesser extent, arts.

This is a failure; my plan is a complete failure! The kind of questions that could be to the advantage of a mathlete do not lend themselves very well to pyramidal structures! There is no panic factor that we could possibly obtain from luring contestants by using the EGMO as a lure! Marcia thinks, while Imélie pounces on every question that she knows she can answer. The two girls realize that there is not a single trace of a pencil and paper ready, that is, a question where players must perform calculations, and the first half of the doubleheader pageant in March amounted to playing quiz bowl but with only pencil and paper ready questions.

Marcia then rushes to remove every allusion still removable she made to the EGMO on social media related to the HSNCT she must have made prior to the tournament's opening.

"In a eulogy for this character, a woman describes touching his feet, knees, and "upward and upward" along his body, finding it "cold as any stone". Bruce?"

"Fat knight" the Wolfpack player answers.

"I need more information on the fat knight. No answer? Minus five!" the moderator rules while the Venomous Agendas are being read the other remaining clues. Having lost the chance to the 5 bonus points...

Here's my chance to redeem myself from this crushing defeat I caused in 4th overtime at the state championship! The only literature question they failed since the start of the game! Taking the lead and win here! I have it on my tongue... William thinks while the clock is running, and he must hurry.

"Sir John... Fastolf?"

"Ten points"

The three bonuses that follow are all answered with skill by the Venomous Agendas, even though the toss-up was a little laborious.

Speaking of toss-ups, there is one remaining. The Venomous Agendas must defend their lead of 40 points dearly acquired on the last question cycle. If we can't answer this question, we're lost! Bruce thinks while the statement of the final toss-up is read by the moderator.

"Last toss-up: This person tried to convince Camille Desmoulins to burn his journal, Le Vieux Cordelier, and he was the target of an assassination attempt by Cécile Renault. He objected to war with Austria, saying that no one likes armed missionaries. With the help of "the Angel of Death", Louis de Saint-Just..." the moderator is interrupted by the buzzer Imélie pushed. "Imelie?"

"Robespierre"

"Fifteen"

And then we collared the Boston Latin Wolfpack? One must not believe the rest of the tournament will proceed that way for us. On top of that, Imélie proved capable of playing outside her specialty, Warren thinks, while they won, 340 to 265, with 2 bonuses converted after this toss-up on the Terror. But they still have 9 games to play, of which 6 are played today.

Good Lord, it's fast! Florence thinks, a little dizzy of how the first game unfolded. It's even faster than against the opponents we got for the rest of the season!

But, as the game #7 approaches, going into which they enter with a record of 4 wins and 2 losses, Gen senses there is something fishy, and one of the fans of the opposing team seems to have some teeth against her. The game #7 commences...

"From Maryland we have Walt Whitman..."

Whitman. Why must everything revolve around Whitman this season? At the Math Madness, at the VMC, and now here? Gen thinks while a temptation from a Vikings fan to irritate the person he holds responsible for the Vikings' mathletic problems becomes oppressive. Zhou is there for his little brother, but rather than to watch his little brother play, obsessed by Geneviève, he starts a verbal joust with her.

"Gen! Never would I have imagined seeing you here, but... can you imagine how many people whose skin you got under this year? We lost the SRA final last year because of you, and we are on the verge of losing the VMC again because of you!" Zhou accuses Gen in person.

"You're probably the person who obsesses most about me outside of my own parish! To my parishioners I am their star mathlete... but we need to leave the room for now" Gen warns Zhou.

Both people left the room, and the quarrel continues anew between Gen and Zhou. Krista, however, remains in the room, powerless over a quarrel that isn't hers.

"How can you explain our repeated mathletic misfortunes?" Zhou yells at Gen.

"I could never have caused your losses directly, I had no knowledge on who was on which roster outside of our own back then. I had no vested interest in sabotaging a specific opponent! So why me specifically?" Gen asks an increasingly angry Zhou.

"You said it so yourself that you were the parish's star mathlete so it would make sense that you're the best. After all, you're the one that won gold at the EGMO, and some people claim that you are in the running for the IMO because of that!"

"If you are talking about the parish newspaper, they wrote that based on incomplete information"

"Incomplete information?"

"You're doing as if the EGMO could replace both TSTs+RMM+APMO all at once! There is no girl-specific procedure for the IMO selection process, and I made it to the EGMO because one of the original qualifiers overdosed!"

Even if, for the EGMO participants, it was the USAMO plus the better of 2x the score on the EGMO and the sum of both TSTs+RMM+APMO, I am not even sure I can crack the top 6. I abstained to make an estimate because my dog is dead for the IMO, and I accepted it for months. He is doing as if I could still qualify! Maybe I could have gone there if I performed like this last year! Gen thinks, while Zhou has gotten things straightened about why her dog is dead for the IMO.

Meanwhile, Marcia's parents realize the crowd is less powerless over quiz bowl questions than over calculus, single-variable and multi-variable. But, for this game, it's the other male veteran that's benched; Imélie played very well in this tournament. The following question will show beyond doubt to the eyes of Marcia's parents that the public is less powerless than initially believed:

"Final toss-up: A restoration of this artwork which was finished in 2020 revealed the human-like eyes of an animal near the center of it. A portion of this artwork depicting Philip the Good was stolen in 1934 and is still missing, while another section depicting John the Baptist was stolen but later returned. The upper right and left portions of this artwork's open view depict a nude Adam and Eve"

"Ghent" a spectator not being a Venomous Agendas fan, nor of Whitman, blurts.

"Someone in the audience has blurted the answer, this tossup shall be declared void, and the clock will be stopped to obtain an additional toss-up" the moderator announces, while he left the room to obtain a replacement question from the tournament direction.

The crowd ruined everything! We had victory close at hand, it's the penultimate toss-up against Boston Latin! We are tied against the Vikings, 250 on each side, Florence thinks while everyone is waiting on the question that the tournament direction gives to the moderator.

"The real final toss-up: A cadenza reminiscent of a Bach fantasia opens this composer's second piano concerto in G minor. The sounds of frogs and crickets are emulated in the middle movement of this composer's fifth piano concerto, which he claims was inspired by a Nubian love song" the moderator reads to both teams while Marcia presses on the buzzer. "Marcia?"

"Saint-Saëns"

"Fifteen. For ten points each..."

"We skip the entire bonus" announces William.

"And that's the game, final score?" the moderator asks the scorekeeper.

The Venomous Agendas win 265 to 250, and this quiz bowl starts getting Marcia's parents dizziness, the father acting as a chaperone for the team. And so many are surprised to see the Venomous Agendas perform so well at their first participation. Wins, Pyrrhic for the most part, but they end the first day with a 5-2 record.