Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 700

What? Recreate Miss Null’s championship-winning program—the one that had dominated the World Programming Competition three years ago with an overwhelming vote—live on stage? She had to be kidding.

“I don’t think she’s kidding. Her fingers are a blur on that keyboard.”

“And look at the screen. All that complex code… she’s typing it out without even thinking. It’s insane.”

“I heard Miss Null’s original project took months to complete. How can she do it in fifteen minutes? She wouldn’t have enough time even if she were copying it line by line!”

The audience buzzed with discussion, and the judges on stage were beginning to see it too. The code she was writing… it looked identical to the code from Miss Null’s project. The speed, the precision—even some of the top programmers in the world couldn’t match it. She wasn’t even looking at the keyboard. She was just a freshman in college, how was this possible?

As more and more code filled the screen, Tucker finally realized something was off. The program Juniper was writing was identical to his master’s work. He had studied that project countless times, memorizing nearly every line of code. He couldn’t be mistaken. The program was so complex that no one but the original creator could possibly write it from scratch, especially not live. Could it be… that Juniper really was his master? That she hadn’t died?

At that thought, Tucker froze, his mind going completely blank.

—

Twelve minutes later.

The sound of typing finally ceased. Juniper slowly rose from her seat as every eye in the room focused on her.

“Fifteen minutes…” the head judge stared at the screen, his eyes wide with disbelief. “She recreated Miss Null’s masterpiece in just fifteen minutes?”

“Mr. Chairman, the program is a perfect match to Miss Null’s,” a staff member confirmed after a quick comparison. “And… there’s more. Three years ago, Miss Null was indeed only fifteen, which is why she was hailed as a child prodigy. By that timeline, she would be eighteen this year—the same age as the young lady before us. So… it’s possible she really is Miss Null.”

The judges stood frozen, unsure how to react.

“I see you still have your doubts.” Juniper said, a slight, knowing smile on her face as if she had expected this all along. “In that case, why don’t you take a look at this?”