"I think I'm clever enough to pull it off."

"What about you? Any grand plans? Fascinating superpowers? Ideas for world domination?"

"If I did have any of those, telling a self-proclaimed supervillain wouldn't be very smart."

"Supervillain in training! It's a process. I have the super, but it's hard to really be a villain without a hero, you know. Us nemesi are narratively defined by one another."

"The plural is nemeses."

"I stand corrected. Clearly I need to avoid a linguistic doctorate."

"Or seek one. To be sure your plan works."

"Hm, a poor grasp of languages does impede public relations... And I'd hate to be a villain with bad PR."

"I meant more the linguistics department would kick you out."

She giggles uncontrollably.

Once she has a bit better grasp on talking: "I'm not that bad! I haven't even mixed Latin and Greek roots in a whole month."

"A whole month. Wow."

Teasingly: "In my defense, the guy I was talking to was pretty stuffy. Deserved to have his nose tweaked."

"Far be it from me to critique your nose-tweaking practices. We've only just met, after all. Though I don't think I got your name?"

"The name on my registration is absolutely horrid. I decry all knowledge of it."

"If you make me call you Doctor Whatever, I will refuse to be your archnemesis."

"I'll behave! How about... Ruby." Something about the name seems amusing to her.

"All right, Ruby. I'm Ellie. It's nice to meet you."

"Same. You're the most interesting person I've met today, Ellie."

"That's not saying much, given," she waves a hand vaguely, "all these."

"True. Still, I suspect you'd stand out even in a more refined crowd."

"If you like. What are you studying?"

"Pre-med."

"Ah. I'm doing computer science."

"I hear AI minions are coming into style."

"It's the cutting edge. Flesh is so last century."

"Oh, I think adorable genetic engineered monstrosities have their place in the glorious transhumanist future."