He saw the as a quick handshake (R U R’ U’ R’ F R2 U’ R’ U’ R U R’ F’). The Ja perm became a friendly shove (L’ U’ L F L’ U’ L U L F’ L2 U L U). And the Nb perm — well, that one was still a grumpy giant, but Leo promised to visit it later.

Leo groaned. “A perms? J perms? It’s just letters and finger tricks I keep messing up.”

“And the one that scares everyone,” Sam continued, “is the — swaps two corners and two edges diagonally. Long, yes. But break it into pieces: F R U’ R’ U’ R U R’ F’ R U R’ U’ R’ F R F’. It’s not a monster. It’s just four small dances glued together.” Leo spent the afternoon not memorizing all 21, but learning stories for each.

Leo tried it. Slowly, clumsily. But on the third try, the corners clicked into place. “That’s… actually pretty,” he said.

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