“She mentioned she has a slip for study hall that gets her out of homework. It sounds like they’re letting her use it,” I said.

“Great. I’m glad that’s there. It goes beyond just school. She’s working on this job of yours at Cedar Point?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“What limits did you set on that? On her schedule?”

“She needs to do her schoolwork, she doesn’t let it impact her grades or attendance. Standard rules of conduct for Wards, carried forward.”

“That’s one step, but it’s not enough. She’s ninety-five percent better? That five percent says she’s losing sleep, sitting in her bedroom or bunk in the dark, checking cameras and feeds or searching old footage. She’ll work herself to the bone trying to uncover that gem that she can turn in to earn your affection.”

I looked at Tristan, then Ashley.

I looked at Houndstooth. “You think this is likely? Even with her doing better?”

“I would bet you real money. And I’d be thrilled to, because my team is in a bad spot for funding, and it’d help.”

“Fuck,” Tristan said. “We can narrow the window, set time restrictions.”

“Or we have her keep the majority of the tinker stuff at our place,” I said.

“Do both,” Houndstooth said. “She’ll be working on other projects, possibly surprise projects, very similar to her art project in intent and execution.”

“She’s working on some side projects,” I said. “The eye camera. A teleporter.”

“You do realize she doesn’t build teleporters, right?” Houndstooth asked.

“She doesn’t lie,” Ashley said, stern. “Don’t imply she does.”

“I wasn’t implying,” Houndstooth said. His voice softened, “I framed that wrong. I think she can build teleporters. But she doesn’t. For the same reason she doesn’t build guns, mechs, A.I., chemicals, bio-stuff. She can do that stuff, but she’ll make half a percent of progress in the time it takes her to complete a whole project in her skillset. She’ll spend hundreds of dollars in materials to get that half a percent.”

“And the way you describe this—” I started. “She’ll actually, genuinely try to complete the teleporter project, even at a glacial pace, at a massive cost to her well-being?”

“Exactly,” Houndstooth said. “At least as far as I understand it. She’ll try to finish the project, she’ll believe it and make others believe she can do it, but I’d bet she’d self-destruct before getting a fifth of the way.”

“For all this talk of self-destruction and sacrificing health and sleep, she seems to be doing okay,” I said. “Freaked out after her call with you, weirdness, but… nothing that can’t be handled, I don’t think.”