Never mind, Dad.
Erin
Ignore him.
Dad
Well, good job, kiddo.
Erin
Thanks. I need to head to the lab, but I’ll be on our call later.
Adrian
Good. I’ve got some questions about the route you took on the Dish.
Erin
I’m sure you do. Bye, slowpoke!
Adrian
I have QUESTIONS.
The conversation pivoted away to Robert Monaghan’s progress on the model train track he’d begun to construct through the back garden of their house in Grand Arbor. Laughing over Adrian’s competitive outrage, she turned to her messages with Martina Perez while she shimmied into a pair of jeans and combed her damp hair into a ponytail.
Erin
I have exciting news! (How was your shift?)
Martina
Did you find an error in Ethan Meyer’s latest data set? (Ugh. A couple of grad students kept trying to enter an accelerator hutch while the machinery was active. I had to babysit and adjust beam quality at the same time. So tired. Heading home now.)
Erin
As if he’d ever let me see his raw data. Jerk.
No—it’s even better than that. (Get some sleep!)
She whirled up a protein smoothie in the kitchen, then hurriedly brushed her teeth before another roommate stumbled into the bathroom for a shower, texting one-handed and spraying toothpaste in her glee.
Martina
What could possibly be better than spotting flaws in his quantum research? Unless you got to spot it publicly?
Erin
Two things. Having a sole-author paper published in the Journal of Supermassive Astronomy and Astrophysics, and having a short story published anywhere. Now… drumroll, please… Galactica Magazine said yes—and so did the journal!
Martina
What?! Oh my God! Both at once? That’s great, Erin! Much better than finding a data flaw.
Erin
They’d all be about equal. But yes, I’m so excited!
