Dick: It seems that some of the subtler principles of electron motion were beyond everyone's grasp. [all groan] Be thankful it's just a grade. In most places, this kind of performance gets you a spanking that still burns when you're blown out the airlock.
Leon: Dr. Solomon, are you at least going to grade us on a curve?
Dick: Of course not. I grade on a transient loop.
Leon: What?
Dick: It's very simple. Your expected score is located here, the parameters of your actual performance are here, here and here, driving the expectation versus performance data into the last three loops, two of which can't be seen because, of course, they're factored only in time.
Caryn: So is my "A" still an "A"?
Dick: Oh, Caryn. No.