Calvin gave Mr. Belcher a quick nce. He didn''t know anything about Ben, hadn''t even heard the name before. But judging by Mr. Belcher''s attitude, it was clear this Ben guy wasn''t just anyone.


    After a pause, he said, "Wade''s never shown interest in this stuff before. Why''s he suddenly so invested in the institute''s research this year?"


    Mr. Belcher scoffed, "Who knows."


    "Is he trying topete with you for this year''s award?" Calvin blurted out.


    Every year, the school held a selection where the chosen professor or academician would receive a national honor medal, a recognition even more prestigious than a promotion. It was like the military''s annual honor medals.


    Mr. Belcher''s lips pressed together, his eyes darkening ominously. Clearly, Calvin had hit a nerve.


    **


    After leaving Mr. Belcher''s office, Calvin had someone deliver the approved funding application to Zane. Holding the form, Zane was in disbelief. He knew that after offending Mr. Calvin, getting the application approved wouldn''t be easy, let alone so quickly. He had even prepared to overstep his bounds and go directly to Mr. Belcher, but hadn''t expected the approval toe so easily.


    Quicklyposing himself, Zane felt a weight lift off his shoulders once the finance department received the funds. He then messaged Linden and the others to share the good news. Everyone reacted just like Zane-ecstatic, except for Mirabe, who seemed to have anticipated it.


    Without wasting time, Zane created a group chat on Messenger and added everyone. Linden, Kason, and Jessie hadn''t added Mirabe yet, so they quickly sent her friend requests. They all had a good impression of this polite, beautiful younger student and felt the need to look out for her.


    For a long time, they frequently asked Mirabe if she needed help with anything, to which she could only smile wryly.


    *


    A few dayster, Zane gathered everyone in the specially equipped bioputer ssroom. The artificial intelligence system was a brand-new research project, so the department had purchased a set of specialputer equipment for their work. Today, all the machines were finally installed and ready.


    After testing a few devices, Zane escorted the technicians out and let the students get ustomed to the machines. Mirabe turned one on and took a quick look. Although its performance wasn''t as good as Wade''s, it was more than sufficient for Al systems.


    While she remained calm, Linden and the others were like kids who had just discovered treasure. "These are definitely meant for professional research. Theseputers are so much better than the ones in the ssrooms!" Kason said, booting up the machine and opening the biological software.


    Linden nced at him, his expression serious, "The data system for artificial life is huge. Ordinary bioputers would crash once they start simting."


    Next to them, Jessie''s fingers flew over the keyboard. She made a couple of clicking noises before turning to Mirabe. Seeing her just looking at theputer, Jessie remembered that Mirabe might not be very skilled withputers. She coughed lightly, scooted her chair closer, and said, "Just treat thisputer like any ordinary one."


    Mirabe looked up, "..."