Margaret is glad her friends are getting along and not causing chaos, and also glad that science is happening! She helps Teddy take notes.

Eventually, after much science and robotics, "So... I think that's everything?"

"Well, I don't have any more questions for you, so if you don't have any more questions for each other, then yeah that's everything. Teddy, did you end up finding a ride home?"

A sleek little car is waiting at the entrance to the junkyard for Teddy. Not a sports car, but fancier than your average Sedan. 

"Hey, bro! Done playing in the junkyard, I see. And hey, bro's friend. Margaret, right?"

"Yup, that's me. Playing in the junkyard is the best." She's holding the almost-complete spider-bot in her arms rather than risk it getting damaged in her school bag. Sorry, what's your name again?"

"I'm Ben. Benjamin. I'd stay and chat, but I've really got to get home and study. Good luck with whatever you're making, there. Come on, Teds."

Teddy gets into the back seat of the car with a little sigh. "See you tomorrow, Margaret."

"Oh, Margaret, do you want a lift back to your house, as long as I'm here?"

He seems to be in kind of a hurry; on the other hand it looks like it might rain and it could be really bad if the bot got rained on. "Yes please, if you wouldn't mind." She moves to get in the back seat.

Teddy makes room.

Once she has her seatbelt on, he's off. "So, let me know which way to go - and what brings you two out here instead of hanging out at the robotics club like usual? Time alone?"

"Personal robotics project instead of the club one, so I don't want to take up the club workspace. Also the junkyard'll sell stuff for cheap and sometimes they have something I can use." This is all true.

"Those darned budget cuts." He chuckles, apparently this is funny, at least to him. "Well, it's probably good that you're exploring your passion in your free time, huh? Teds gets a corner of the garage and a computer he does lots of code stuff I don't understand on, so there's that."

"Code stuff is fun, I'm sure Teddy or I could teach you sometime!"

"Probably not. I've got my own hobby projects. The best kind of hobby is the kind that you can turn into a job later, though - I might get to meet a state senator about the gasoline tax early this summer, for example!"

"I'd probably do robotics even if there weren't jobs in it, but it's nice that there are, yeah. I haven't taken econ yet but I've heard good things about gasoline taxes."

"Well, it's all interconnected, and I could probably use a little more econ, myself - I've been doing a lot of law - but I don't think you want me to recite my amateur policy paper right here."

He turns onto Margaret's street. "Which house?"

"The one with the big maple--yeah, here."

"Have a nice day!"

(Teddy has been silent the whole way here, and just waves goodbye.)

And Benjamin's car zooms off, presumably towards his home.

And only a few days later, Margaret screws the casing shut, and sets up the climbing wall vertically, and her spider-bot hooks its way from the bottom to the top and then waves its forelegs triumphantly as she wiggles the joysticks.

The genie gives the pleased-gust thing. "Is it done? I read that robots require testing before being done."

"I've been doing lots of little tests up until now, that was sort of the final one. It could always be tested more, and in different ways, but that was what I was building it to do, so yes, it's done."

"This has been interesting."

This is it, this is crunch time, when she was focused on the robot she could ignore it but now the moment of truth is Right Here and her heart is rattling around like an unbalanced washing machine. "Did you find it interesting enough to give me magic, in accordance with our agreement?" She's turning the controller over and over in her hands.

"Yes. I have learned much."

"I'm glad. Please pay me for it by making me a spirit-bearer."

With surprising foresight and situational awareness, for a genie, it says, "It may be unwise to do that right here and now."

Margaret is suitably embarrassed by being out-situational-awarenessed by a genie, but in her defense, magic. "Yes, perhaps we should do it in the junkyard or somewhere."