I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between
is anything but normal.
When it comes to the families on Normal Street,
there is no norm, but if there were,
Mel would say her family is the opposite of that.
Her mom is a judge who's into free solo rock climbing.
She'll scale a sheer face with no ropes, harnesses or protection,
just her strength and ability.
That's how she relaxes.
[humming]
Mel's dad is an otolaryngologist,
which Mel found out is an ear, nose and throat doctor,
but not until after she learned how to spell otolaryngologist
at age five.
And here's Mel.
She's kind of unformed.
She could still be all of those things
or none of those things.
Or her own unique mix.
If she doesn't make herself crazy.
The Science Fair.
36 kids all using their scientific smarts
in pursuit of one trophy.
I was off to...
a slow start.
Foot cramp?
You might need some potassium.
Head over to Vin's display, he'll tell you all about it.
No, no, no, you see,
the-the sensors are supposed to be
translating my foot movement into a D note.
[Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" playing]
[thudding]
Yay, it works. Okay, that's enough.
Everyone was feeling the pressure,
but nobody more than Mel.
Ranger.
You'll mess up my slides.
Lo siento.
Thanks again, Miss Martin.
Glad my breakup was good timing for somebody.
Oh, and I'm cooking today in Family Consumer Sciences
if you want some of my onion tears.
That's really coming along.
Just wait until it erupts.
This isn't the most innovative or educational project, you know.
I'm not goin' for that. I'm goin' for awesome.
Good for you.
Wait.
Should the Fire Marshal be there?
Couldn't hurt.
This is really cool.
It's rare that a project actually teaches me something.
You've got a real chance of winning.
Thanks. I think so, too.
It's no secret that Mel likes winning.
Girl: I'm ready.
But she isn't the only one.
Catherine Dillman's project had been shrouded in secrecy.
She, you know, physically shrouded.
[electronic blipping]
It's a device that removes car exhaust from our air,
and collects it so it can be disposed of safely
rather than causing more global climate change.
[electronic blipping]
In case you cry tears of fear.
We've been working so hard.
How can Catherine just swoop in
with her wildly infeasible invention?
Infeasible? It's incredible.
Well, it is.
So just build something even more incredible.
I wish it were that easy.
Uh, okay, move around, let me see how it does.
[electronic notes playing]
I'll build a robot.
It was that easy.
Here. If you're gonna build a robot,
shouldn't it spew stuff all over?
I don't think they add points for that.
Encouragement, please.
Uh, you always do good, Mel.
It'll be great.
I just need it to win.
[sighs]
Catherine.
Melody.
Cathy. I thought your thing was finished?
It is.
Except for the digital projector Ike ordered for me.
I figured why put everything on poster board.
What are we, in elementary school,
when I can project it all into a beautiful display?
What projector are you getting?
The Digiprompt 100.
Oh, I'm getting the 200.
Why? The bigger the number,
the less sophisticated the image.
That's what I wanted.
- Hm. - Yeah.
It'll make sense once you see it.
I could see one of them winning on a technical merit,
but I think points should be deducted for
whatever that was.
Ike gave me a bunch of boxes.
Yeah, great. I gotta pay.
What's going on, Mel? You're acting weird.
It's just a science fair.
Nothing is ever just anything.
Sometimes.
How'd you get this?
The 100 doesn't even come out for another month.
Not to the general public.
[whirring]
Able.
[beep]
About.
[beep]
Above.
[beep]
Abracadabra.
[knocking]
Hey. Brought you a snack.
- Thank you. - Mm-hm.
Now, go back out,
and instead of knocking,
say, "Open the door, please, robot."
Okay.
Open the door, please, robot.
[whirring]
Okay, you got it to respond only to you?
It's good, right?
I just can't tell if it's good enough.
Are you kidding me? Honey, that's amazing.
You're just saying that 'cause you're my mom.
Okay.
Where's all this pressure coming from?
From wanting to win.
[sighs] You built a robot.
You've already won.
Okay, I know that sounds like a platitude,
but it's true.
Look, there are different ways to win.
When you want to win, it seems like there's just the one way.
Well--
Have you ever lost at anything?
Uh--
Okay, never mind.
No, no, hang on.
Uh, yes, yes. There was that one time.
[crowd cheering]
My high school cheerleading squad
made it to nationals.
People in 32 countries were watching.
It came down to us and one other school.
I was supposed to vault to the top of the pyramid,
and land in a handstand.
[screaming]
Oh, wait. I stuck that landing.
[crowd cheering]
Hm.
[sighs] I am so sunk.
No, you're not. You are-- you are working hard.
But it might not be enough.
Of course, it is.
Easy on the stressing. Okay?
You could come in dead last,
and we would be proud of you.
Goodnight.
Don't listen to her.
We're going to win.
[electronic voice] We're going to win.
Finally. Someone gets me.
[whirring]
Red.
So now a reporter
is following Catherine Dillman around
like she's the Madam Curie of the new millennium.
Green.
Madam Curie was a physicist and chemist.
What Catherine Dillman is doing is engineering.
I know, but--
Periwinkle.
[sighs] Name one famous female engineer.
Joan E. Higginbotham.
I don't know who that is.
Dusty Shale. She's an astronaut.
Don't worry, I am also stupid.
What do you mean, also?
In addition to you, earlier you said,
"Ah, I'm so stupid!"
Assemble that, robot.
This writer thinks Catherine's device
is gonna be some huge news story.
We're competing against the next Joan E. Higginbotham.
This is the toughest competition I've ever done.
Knock-knock.
Who's there?
- Dismay. - Dismay who?
Dismay not be a funny joke.
It was a humorous use of words
that involved a pronunciation
that has more than one possible meaning.
[laughing]
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Mel: I'm actually glad that Catherine set the bar so high.
I can't believe I ever thought
my lame tears thing would win this for us.
I keep forgetting you're a robot.
We've just had these great conversations about everything.
Photography, soccer, the ocean.
I can read back your question history.
Robot, is there life on other planets?
What's your favorite movie?
Can I eat this ice cream? It's past its use-by date.
It's just funny that we haven't known each other for that long and--
Already we can predict what the other is going to--
Say.
Well, that last word
was either going to be "say" or "do."
That was a 50/50.
Why are we with the competition?
They're my friends.
They're not competition.
No offense.
None taken.
My volcano is awesome,
but awesome doesn't always win.
We have to win. This is a big deal.
My parents are coming and everything.
That's a competitive robot. Does it play games?
It's not a toy.
It's got an embedded CPU with wifi,
it's hips have 25 degrees of freedom,
and it tracks colors, objects and faces, and--
I challenge you to a game of chess.
Checkmate.
Whoa. That'd be a good thing to fix before tomorrow.
Why? It's got ambition.
I've got ambition.
It this like when Gardner does something annoying,
and my mom wants me to think it's cute?
I said it's not a toy,
and Ranger did use an obscure move.
We're your friends,
and you're taking the side of a robot?
I'm stating the facts.
I don't understand what's going on,
but you're kind of freaking me out.
Gortimer, I-- I think we should go.
This is turning out to be more than it's supposed to be.
Maybe put it away for a while?
I can't. I still have more stuff to do.
Best out of three.
[door closes]
[sighs]
Catherine can't win.
We can't be second.
Second is embarrassing.
Ahhhhh!
What was that?
I'm a little--
Ahhhhh! Stressed.
[no audible dialog]
Oh, hey. Sorry for the scrubs.
I almost didn't make it in time.
So good to finally meet you, Dr. Dillman.
- I'm Will-- - I know. Dr. Fuller.
You do amazing work.
Mm, and it is so nice to put a face to the name, your honor.
Same here, your honor.
Aren't you glad we don't have to judge this thing?
[laughing]
Yours turned out great.
Ah, thanks.
What's "wiñata"?
A person or thing that is stuffed so full of win
that if hit with a stick,
it would spill win all over the floor.
Ahh. [laughs]
Well, may the best man or woman or machine win.
Both: We will.
Well, in my opinion, there's not really an explosion
until there's a lava plug,
which causes an extreme increase in pressure.
And now I will demonstrate.
Everybody, Mount Ranger is about to erupt.
We're ready, Beth.
And behold.
[makes whooshing noises]
You fought the good fight.
["Axel F" playing]
[applause]
Fantastic.
I like how you connected art and science.
So fun.
Really dynamic.
Robot, tell us about yourself, please.
I'm 122 centimeters tall,
and travel easily over paved or tiled surfaces.
I can operate for one hour on a single charge,
unless you get me talking and then it's 20 minutes.
Mel, this is incredible.
Really, really well done.
Oh, I've been reading about this.
Yeah. Good job.
It was a tough field,
with many fascinating and imaginative entries.
And these are our three finalists.
[applause]
Now, let's congratulate our third prize winner.
Gortimer Gibbon.
Hey. Gorby.
[plays note]
[laughs]
Second prize goes to...
Mel Fuller,
who built that incredible robot.
[applause]
All right. Mel.
♪♪
[whirring]
You didn't happen to install a "Find My Robot" app?
I didn't think it would steal the trophy and run away.
That was pretty drastic,
although there were some high expectations.
Well, you're not supposed to aim for second.
There was so much pressure,
I'm surprised Catherine didn't try to capture it
and dispose of it safely.
I mean, I did see some of your behavior
starting to rub off on it.
It's a robot.
It's nothing like me.
Is it dangerous?
I don't think so.
Hey, robot.
This trophy is ours. We were robbed.
Could we have some private time?
Sure.
We'll be right around the corner
in case it goes nuts again.
Give me the trophy, please, robot.
We should have won.
[sighs] Let's not be sore losers.
We're losers.
Depending on how you define it.
Somebody who has not won.
A person or a team that has failed
to win a specific contest.
Yes, okay. By that definition.
Somebody unsuccessful or unlucky.
An unsuccessful or unlucky person
who seems destined to fail repeatedly.
Got it. Thanks.
Second is embarrassing.
[sighs] You know, second is actually really good.
Gortimer seems happy about third.
Winning isn't everything.
It's the only thing.
Did I say that?
No.
Good. I do not want to be that person.
Come on.
I want to carry the trophy.
[whirring]
Hello, losers.
I need your help to, uh--
dismantle the robot.
I know what to do.
Do you want us to help you return Catherine's trophy?
That's embarrassing.
You have to apologize.
Even though it's not fair?
It's so easy for her. She's so much smarter than everyone--
I was just saying I didn't want to be that person.
Hey.
I was just tweaking this,
making it better.
But you already won.
Congratulations, by the way.
I'm not sure if I said that at the award ceremony.
You did. As you were running after the robot.
To get my trophy back.
I'm sorry for all the drama.
I'm actually glad it's over.
It was annoying having that reporter
- follow me around. - Really?
My dad thought it would be good for my college application
if I got news coverage.
I don't even know if I want to go to college.
My parents want me to go to the same school they did.
My first Halloween they dressed me up as John Harvard.
I was Madam Curie.
I love her.
Hey, you want to come over tomorrow?
Ranger's gonna blow up the robot
with leftover explosives from his volcano.
Ranger has leftover explosives?
It's almost as if he planned it.
[laughing]
[makes exploding sound]
Okay, good.
This won't blow up,
but I bet it would melt.
But you won it.
[rattling]
What is wrong with people?
Yeah, let's blow it up.
Uh, I don't get it.
The Earth spins in the wrong direction.
You want to do it?
We've all got that voice inside.
Sometimes it motivates you.
Sometimes it tells you truths you don't want to hear.
But sometimes...
it's a trash-talking robot...
[explosion]
that needs to be blown up. "italic"> trash-talking robot...