Mirabe just nced at them and didn''t bother saying hi before heading straight to her own bunk.


    Howard saw this and, feeling a bit put off, looked away. Her mind wandered back to the few words her shooting instructor had said to her today, and suddenly, food was thest thing she wanted.


    She put down her fork and told Tina and their other roommate, "I''m done."


    Tina looked at Howard''s half-full lunchbox in surprise. "You''re full already? You barely ate anything!"


    Howard let out a soft sigh, feeling more fed up than full, and got up. She grabbed a paper bag from her bunk and added, "I''ve got dance practice. You guys can meet me at the church when you''re done eating."


    Howard had signed up for a performance at the Freshman Orientation Showcase. The showcase was meant to celebrate the end of orientation week.


    Tina, sensing Howard''s mood shift, nced briefly at Mirabe before setting her own fork down. “Let''s go together," she said softly. She wasn''t a fan of Mirabe either, thanks to some sunscreen drama.


    Howard nodded, and their other roommate, losing her appetite as well, decided to join them. The three left the dorm, leaving it empty except for Mirabe and Lisa, who was lost in her game on the top bunk.


    The door closed with a heavy thud, snapping Lisa out of her gaming trance. She lifted her head, took off her headphones, and nced around the room until she spotted Mirabe. Crawling to the edge of her bed, she greeted, "You''re back.”


    Mirabe responded with a nonchnt hum, not even looking up.


    "Where''d Howard and the others go?" Lisa asked.


    "They left," Mirabe replied tly.


    She was lounging casually by her bunk, her eyes on theptop screen resting on her knees. Her longshes cast shadows as her pale, slender fingers danced over the keyboard.


    Noticing Mirabe was engrossed in herputer, and knowing she''d been at it every night recently, Lisa didn''t press further.


    Mirabe shook her head at the screen, typing, "This model''s a mess, the initial database is full of holes. Kiddo, your coding skills have seriously slipped."


    The man on the other end paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Does she think creating a database is like texting? Just type and it''s done?


    Suddenly, a file appeared on his desktop without needing his approval. The man chuckled. This old geezer, always doing things his way.


    He opened the file and his


    expression froze, then morphed into shock. The file contained code for a data linkage system, the database model almost wless, with some sequences he''d never even


    Some


    imagined.


    5


    It was genius.


    Snapping back to reality, he quickly typed, "Dad, can you teach me programming?"


    At this point, he''d call him grandpa if it meant getting help.


    "Stupidity requires more learning," Mirabe replied, then unterally ended the chat. Her fingers moved, and theputer screen shed back to the home page in an?nstant.


    Lisa, who had just sat down next to Mirabe, only saw the screen sh.