Adler had his leg casually propped up on the office desk, leaning back in his chair. "No way it''s gonna crash, trust me," he said with aid-back confidence.


    "Alright, catch youter," Mirabe replied.


    Adler nodded, ready to end the call, but a thought hit him. "Oh, wait a sec. I just remembered over at the med school, they''re working on this new solution to break down heavy metals in blood. It''s still in the experimental phase, so I don''t know all the details."


    On hearing this, Mirabe''s expression shifted, her eyes narrowing a bit. Her voice turned colder, "That''s a step backward, defying the natural order."


    And with that, she hung up.


    Adler stared at his phone, baffled. "What just happened? I just mentioned a solution..."


    Perplexed, he decided not to press further and just let it go.


    The next day rolled around.


    After lunch, Mirabe was about to head to the school library when she got a message from Linden, asking if she could swing by the study room to help with a question.


    Halfway there, she turned back to the academic building, and as she reached the study room door, Linden was already on his feet. "Hey, d you could make it, freshman."


    The room was empty except for Linden.


    Mirabe walked over and nodded, "Hey, senior."


    Linden gestured to the chair beside him. Once she sat down, he jumped right in. "I heard from Mr. Zane that you''ve dabbled in gic code cracking. Is that right?"


    Mirabe was a bit taken aback. After a moment, she nodded, "Yeah, a little."


    "So, I''m stuck on a decoding problem. I''mparing data but can''t get a perfect match," Linden said, looking a bit stressed as he ruffled his hair.


    Mirabe was a bit surprised. Why was everyone suddenly into gics? Someone else had been digging into this not long ago, too.


    She thought for a moment and suggested, "Do you have the starting values for the form? I can help you take a look."


    "I do, but they''re not with me now," Linden admitted.


    He was working on data for Meg, who was very particr about keeping the experiment under wraps. He only got to see the forms during the experiments and didn''t feel it was right to take them away.


    But maybe since their studies in Information Science and Technology differed, he could bring Mirabe to Meg''sb group?


    Thinking it over, Linden pulled out his phone and texted while chatting with Mirabe. "Hang on, I''ll ask if it''s okay. I''m really just doing this for someone else."


    "Take your time," Mirabe said, rxed and patient.


    A reply came quickly, and Linden nced up at Mirabe. "She''s actually in theb now. You free to head over?"


    "I''m free."


    "Perfect," Linden said, pocketing his phone. "Let''s go there now."


    Before long, Mirabe and Linden were on their way to theb building.


    Leading the way, Linden kept chatting, "No pressure, freshman. If it seems tough, we can just leave it. It''s not like it''s our main focus."


    Mirabe listened quietly until they reached a familiarb door. Suddenly, she felt a throb in her forehead.


    She reached out and stopped Linden from ringing the doorbell.


    Stay tuned for a midnight update~~ This writer''s off to continue the story-