"I meant after I get the knife done. This wire isn't going to help much with the knife."

"I don't suppose I can get future assignments early? This stuff is cool."

"I think you could probably ask an upperclassmen but you could also just make up your own assignments."

"You can work on whatever you want if you finish early," grumbles Riley, as he tries to rethink his knife-making strategy.

Ribo turns her focus back to her work. She's finished carving the wax blank and she packs together a mold from sand and a bit of wood. She carefully nails together the wood frame and then she's off to one of the furnaces to heat and alloy the bronze.

After concluding that he's not even making marginal improvements, Riley goes to replenish his supplies.