that you're going to finish the whole riddle?”
“Aah.” The Machinists' teacher winked and tapped the side of his nose with his forefinger. “We're on the right track, you know.”
“Bah,” Pythagoras shrugged his shoulders. “It was designed to be solved only by an open mind” (he put great emphasis on these words) “not by some machine whirring away in a corner applying its limited logic ...”
Muko could see that the teachers were posturing more than really arguing. They probably weren't exactly rivals, but felt the need to make a display of force to each other. It was a conversation, however, that fascinated Muko, and since the two teachers had turned away now, making it impossible for him to hear any more, he abandoned his post and went to find Amartia.
“I've just heard Pythagoras and that other teacher - you know, the Machinists' teacher - saying the weirdest, most mysterious things,” he told her.
Surprisingly for someone normally so deadpan, Amartia's eyes lit up. She loved a good mystery, and she was beginning to become attached to Muko as her only friend.