The next morning rolled around.


    Mirabe woke up to a message from James on Messenger, asking what she had nned for the day. She shot back a quick reply, letting him know she was headed to school, and that was that until he called just as she was about to leave.


    After hanging up, Mirabe tossed her car keys back onto the entryway table and stepped outside. There was James, leaning casually against his car door, dressed in a sleek dark coat with his hands tucked nonchntly in his pockets. He had this natural air of sophistication about him, and somehow, hisid-back vibe fit him perfectly.


    As she walked over, she gave him a once-over. "Dressed like that, are you nning to charm the youngdies at our school, James?"


    James took her bag with a serious nod, "Well, aren''t you a youngdy?"


    Mirabe mmed up, knowing full well she couldn''t win against him in these little verbal jousts.


    With a slight arch of his eyebrow, James opened the car door for her. As Mirabe slid into the passenger seat, she noticed the tired look on his face. "Didn''t catch much sleepst night?"


    James, still holding the door, shrugged, "Went to bedte."


    Seeing he was genuinely worn out, she shook her head, "You''re too young to be burning the candle at both ends."


    James chuckled, "Spoken like a true girlfriend."


    Mirabe gave him a sidelong nce, toozy to banter, and settled into her seat. James grinned and closed the door behind her.


    Soon enough, they were on their way to school. When they got there, James drove right onto the campus. Mirabe figured he was making a beeline for the Physics Department again, so she didn''t bother asking.


    They parted ways at the Biology Department. Mirabe headed straight for theb building.


    Inside, the other three team


    members were already there, and


    vel


    Zane was among them, checking the progress of their project''s artificial system on the mainputer. They''d made some headway a few days back, but their attempt to integrate it at the Science Institute had flopped, so they were back at the drawing board.


    "Mirabe, you''re here. Got any ideas for improvements?" Zane didn''t waste time


    on pleasantries, diving straight into the issue.


    Mirabe hung her bag on a chair and nodded calmly, "Yeah, I''ve got a n."


    Her words grabbed everyone''s attention, including Linden''s.


    Clearing her throat, Mirabe exined, "We just need to tweak the virtual gene library a bit."


    It was partly on her for not running the numbers right. The system seemed basic enough to her, but


    she''d overestimated the Scienc


    Institute''s capabilities. They just couldn''t keep up with what she''d


    designed.


    It was a ssic case of old tech versus new tech; the integration failure wasn''t


    exactly shocking.


    Afterying it out, Mirabe started


    making adjustments on theputer. The n she cooked up the previous night involved


    simplifying a perfected system into which


    something less sophisticated


    was surprisingly harder than


    creating something entirely new.


    It took her nearly two days-right up until Sunday afternoon-to finally wrap it up.


    To the others, the new n looked more convoluted and not as slick as thest


    one.


    Zane scrolled through the updated blueprint with a skeptical look, and after a moment, he couldn''t hold back, "Mirabe, are you sure this is gonna work?"