Triumphantly, Jarno proves that P = NP (elliptical curves, in case you’re wondering, yes, again, seriously). The university is full of cameras for about two weeks; he gets the prize check from the Clay Institute, and later he’ll probably split a Nobel.

He spends part of the money on a cabin at Shadow Mountain Lake and the rest to name a reading room at the library. A million dollars isn’t so much, actually. A little more than the value of his 401(k).

Some grad students use his work to break a Minesweeper record. Jarno fishes, and thinks about birds in flight.