So, this isn''t about being upset, but more like showing off, huh?


    Dane, who caught on pretty quickly, just shrugged and said, "I''ve got one apprentice who hasn''t done much aside froming up with a shape-memory alloy actuator. Honestly, it''s kinda frustrating."


    Elliot nearly spat out his coffee, rolling his eyes. "Come on, stop bragging about your apprentice."


    Dane shot him a sly look. "I''m not as impressive as you. I''ve only got one apprentice, while you''ve got three."


    "Correction, make that four," Elliot replied, trying to keep it cool. "I just picked up another young prodigy."


    Four to one, and just by numbers, he had the edge.


    Seeing Elliot''s smug grin, Dane quickly twigged that this new recruit must be the ''genius type'' he''d mentioned. After a beat, he said, "Well, congrats on that."


    Elliot wanted tough, but then remembered he still had to keep his new apprentice under wraps, and his smile faded.


    He sighed, steering the chat back to pressing matters, "Anyway, for this project, you really should get your apprentice back. Without his help, your Science Institute folks might struggle with the equipment."


    Talking business made Dane sit up straight. "I''ve thought about it, but I''m not sure I can convince him to return."


    Elliot shook his head, trying not to grumble, "Just give it your best shot. With him on board, the ocean exploration project will be much safer."


    "Yeah, I know." Dane nodded, then turned to Elliot, “But what about you? Why the sudden change of heart?"


    Elliot knew Dane was asking why he''d decided to join the ocean exploration project. He just smiled, "You can''t shy away from risks just because they''re there."


    Hearing that, Dane fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment before saying, "The old experiment was really risky. I''m just d you made it through.”


    Elliot just kept sipping his coffee, staying quiet.


    Dane nced at him, sighed inwardly, and switched topics to lighten the mood.


    **


    Back at school, Mirabe and the crew had their hands full. Zane was knee-deep in writing up a project report for the department and the school.


    Mirabe was about to head out, but seeing Linden stressing over n revisions, with Kason and Jessie both pitching in, she decided to stick around.


    They headed to the study room together.


    The ce wasn''t too crowded, so their chatter wouldn''t bother anyone.


    Linden, Kason, and Jessie were deep in discussion about refining the n, while Mirabe grabbed Linden''sptop to check out the draft.


    "Hey Mira, got any suggestions?" Jessie asked, casually twirling a pen and ncing over at Mirabe, who was typing away on theputer. She leaned in for a closer look. "Are you tweaking it?"


    Mirabe kept typing for a couple more minutes, then hit save and looked up. "This n''s pretty solid already; no need for big changes, just a few tweaks here and there."