Jessie grinned, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she teased, "Well, with our Mira being so gorgeous and Mr. Ben being young and all, it''s no wonder he''s paying you extra attention."


    Mirabe just rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood for jokes.


    "Just kidding," Jessie said, clearing her throat as she nced again at theb''s entrance. "But seriously, I think he might have some hidden agenda. Not like a guy trying to date a girl, but more like... I can''t quite put my finger on it."


    Sometimes, catching that particr look from him sent shivers down her spine. It was just in weird.


    Mirabe nodded, fishing a bottle out of her coat and popping a white pill into her mouth. The bitter taste snapped her to attention. She replied to Jessie with zero humility, "He''s probably blown away by my coding skills."


    Jessie smirked, "Yeah, you''re the best."


    Mirabe gave a small smile and decided not to talk about Ben anymore. Instead, she offered, "Homemade energy jelly beans, want one?"


    Jessie didn''t even hesitate, holding out her hand.


    After handing one to Jessie, Mirabe turned to Linden and Kason, who were both too wrapped up in their programming to notice.


    Seeing this, Mirabe shrugged and put the bottle away.


    "What''s in these jelly beans? They''ve got this medicinal vibe, but seriously, they


    do give you a kick," Jessie remarked, the bean still in her mouth, looking pleasantly surprised.


    Mirabe raised an eyebrow, "Everyone who''s tried them loves them."


    Jessie nodded and wheeled her chair back to herputer, diving back into her work on the database.


    Mirabe''s gaze softened briefly. Then her phone vibrated, interrupting her thoughts. She checked the screen and opened the messages.


    Y: "The chief has taken the medicine, and there''s an improvement."


    Y: "Uncle Wei might leave again in a couple of days, and I can''t stop him."


    Y: "Boss, I want to see the world too. Tell me how to get out of the Foggy Woods."


    Mirabe thought for a moment before typing back: "The outside world is dangerous. Better to stay safe with the n. Life''s too precious."


    Y: "..."


    As Ben returned from a call at the entrance, Mirabe caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, and her smile faded. She tucked her phone away and got back to her coding.


    Ben''s eyes stayed glued to Mirabe''sputer. His curiosity finally got the better of him, and he asked, "You must have some experience with Al programming?"


    Mirabe''s hands moved leisurely, her voice rxed, "Picked up a few things from online tutorials."


    Ben was skeptical. When the artificial life systems project first kicked off, he hadn''t been interested. He figured if top international scientists hadn''t cracked it, how could a bunch of students?


    But the results were mind-blowing.


    Especially this girl, whose coding approach was unlike anything he''d seen- almost like she was ying with a cheat code. To say her work was groundbreaking would be an understatement.


    For a moment, Ben wondered if she had ess to some future tech, but after observing and digging a bit, he let go of that thought.