Hank had a knack for artificial intelligence systems, so he wasn''t exactly a stranger to artificial life systems, even if they weren''t his specialty.


    He watched for a moment, hisid-back expression shifting to one of surprise. The way they were importing gic data, this approach to syntheticputation and modeling-no one had ever tried it before. Hank nced at Mirabe, thinking there was something intriguing about her.


    About ten minutester, in the center of theb, a holographic disy hooked up to aputer revealed a virtual brain simtion, gently pulsating. Alongside the pulsating brain, lines of code danced on either side before forming the words ''AL System.''


    As Zane looked at these words on the holographic disy, he felt an unexpected emotion welling up, like the dawn breaking with a promise of hope. Their bioinformatics department had been stuck in a rut for almost a decade, facing indifference and hurdles. The initial strides in this artificial life system hinted at the end of that silence.


    Even though they had just scratched the surface of the artificial life system, it was enough to catch the industry''s eye. Zane took a deep breath, turned to Hank, and said, "This is the framework for our first phase of the system. You can now connect it to a simtion intelligence drive and give it a whirl."


    Hank''s eyes had been glued to the holographic screen. It took him a second to snap back to reality, swallow his shock, and quickly say, "Alright, could you please step out of theb for a bit?"


    Without further exnation, he called over an assistant to escort Zane and the others to the lounge to wait. Zane, not wanting to press the issue, led his students out.


    Mirabe walked slowly at the back, taking ast look at Hank, busy with the tests, her face unreadable. She then noticed a document on a nearby table, paused, picked it up, and walked out. After she left, theb door automatically shut behind her.


    *


    Once Hank''s assistant had shown everyone to the lounge and left, Mirabe pulled out a chair and sat down, looking quite at ease. Linden had just sat down when he noticed the document in Mirabe''s hands and turned to her, "Why''d you take the n with you?"


    Mirabe shrugged slightly, saying, "They probably won''t need it anyway."


    Remembering Hank''s earlier critique of his n, Linden didn''t think much of it and responded with a wry smile, "Fair enough."


    "I''m still curious why they asked us to leave first," Kason said, puzzled. "I mean, the system''s our work. Don''t we get to stick around and see what happens?"


    "It''s likely because this project at the Tech Institute is confidential, so they asked us to clear out," Zane exined. It was standard for unreleased research to have confidentiality protocols, sometimes even requiring non-disclosure agreements. Zane wasn''t surprised by the Tech Institute''s approach.


    Kason adjusted his sses and sighed, "Well, alright."


    "Let''s just hang tight," Zane said, offering a reassuring smile to everyone.


    Meanwhile, Calvin had been chatting with Dr. King from the International Affairs office. Catching Zane''s eye, he offered some friendly advice, "Hank mentioned your n wasn''t detailed enough. Maybe use this downtime to dig deeper into that."