Chapter Text
Jim being the kind of kid who liked to take things apart and put them back together means he’s gotten really good at knowing where the screws are supposed to be. The points where housings get popped together and glued. Where tabs fit together and latches seat. And once you know where to look, they’re everywhere. Seams you can pry open are universal. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, there’s almost always an ON button.
So, when given a challenge that looks like a closed box, Jim knows that’s not true. It might take him a bit to find it, but there’s always a way to crack something open - even if it seems like there’s not. The Kobayashi Maru was no different than any other array of relays and transformers and solenoids Jim has torn into and hot-wired back together.
He’s only softlocked himself out of something twice: once when he tried to get into the Iowa State University Research and Development databanks, and then when he managed to hack the firewalls on Starfleet’s experimental warp drive test data. He was a kid the first time, barely even ten. Even then, it wasn’t for long, because Jim circled around and found another way in. Same room, different door.
The second time didn’t even divert him for more than a minute.
Jim is a bonafide button pusher, has been his entire life, and Spock has a lot of buttons waiting for him to try out.
Jim just wants to see what they do.