"Ohhhhhhh! That makes sense! I- do not in fact instantly believe you that this is automatically a superior way of doing things because I couldn't yet generate the arguments from scratch if I didn't already know they existed. And I haven't ever done any functional programming. But it certainly seems plausible that it would help like that."

She grins approvingly at the epistemological caution. "Smart girl. Don't just believe me, try it yourself. Trust but verify."

She smiles softly. Sable is cute. And apparently doesn't mind Alethia not instantly believing her. Approves, even!

She thinks she likes her.

"That's how I tend to do things, yeah."

"Would that more people did the same. Maybe things would be getting better quicker than they are. People don't often think about how well their plans actually work, though. Especially not when it's important."

She giggles. "Indeed. How else would you know they were very smart, if they didn't get already have all the answers? Why, that bit is so very important they might as well skip the stage where they check whether their answers are right."

She giggles as well, nodding sagely. "Who needs to check, doesn't everyone know that the bragging about being right part is so much more important? If you brag well enough, that makes you right. Clearly bragging about your charitable contributions means they helped people, and bragging about your conclusions means they're scientifically sound!"

Okay, she was just thinking about that, can this woman read her mind? 

I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME.

Okay, nothing, she probably cannot in fact hear her.

No, she cannot hear her. Wrong vampire, honey.

It is never the case that people can secretly read her mind. She has learned this.

"Indeed. For if one says things sufficiently loudly, they become true. This is how I became mistress of the universe."

"Indeed. You have my eternal fealty, most benevolent mistress."

<...Wait, how serious are we with that fealty?>, Ruby asks.

<...Very,> Hailey responds.

"I will be a wise and benevolent mistress, who only uses her powers for good."

I will only take a minimum of sexual liberties with your vulnerable person.

Tragically, this joke must remain entirely internal.

"I promise to demand only a maximum of two piggy back rides per day."

"Truly you are most gracious and noble. You could easily get away with five or more, but you have settled for two. I cannot imagine a more suitable mistress."

"Hmm. Five piggy back rides, you say? Perhaps benevolence is not all it is cracked up to be. I shall fall to evil!"

"Come to the dark side. We have piggyback rides, cookies, and more."

Like brain upgrades you'll probably love.

"Ooh, cookies! That cinches it."

Wait, she's completely forgotten to eat any of her doughnut! She can fix this!

Nom.

Sable grins at how absurdly cute Alethia is when eating her doughnut. 

<She's really just too cute. Can we keep her?>, Ruby asks.

<We'll try,> Maya replies.

<We'll have to read her in, if it goes far enough,> Hailey notes.

<It's probably going far enough. Let's figure out what forms we need,> Ruby insists.

This all happens very quickly, but the entire exchange is accompanied by a very fond grin.

When she emerges from Doughnut Euphoria she is slightly embarrassed by the fond look on Sable's face. Did she eat in a silly fashion, somehow?

Eh, Sable looks fond, if she ate in a silly fashion Sable found it cute, it's fine.

"So, why were you walking through the university, today? Do you work for the university?"

She shakes her head. "Studied here previously. It's nostalgic to pass by, sometimes."

She's not going to explain that it was over a decade ago until she explains vampires.

"Ah. Yeah, I expect I'll do the same, eventually. I spend so much of my time here. And once I've moved along, all of a sudden this will be a place I don't see any more. It feels a bit strange, sometimes, how things can change like that."

"I try to attach lightly to a lot of stuff for that reason. And try to make time to come back and see the rest. I travel a lot, since I can work remotely, and so nostalgia's usually just a short trip away. But I know what you mean, about changes like that."

"Ooh, remote work! I'm planning to try to swing that myself, if I can. Even beyond the freedom of being able to go where I want, just not having to commute in the morning would be so nice."

"It really is. Absolutely worth hunting around for an employer who offers it. What languages have you focused on so far, and what aspects of programming most interest you?"

"So far I've mostly been programming in Java, Python, and C++. I- uh, I'm not sure how ell this answers your question, but I like the sort of- general process of building a thing from basically-scratch, such that I relatively-naturally end up with a model of the entire codestructure in my head. I, uh, am kind of under the impression that most of what you actually do when you're working involves rather a lot more working with code you didn't write up yourself."

"Decent languages, for all that C++ is an unholy abomination, and should be a foundation you can bridge from if you work somewhere they're using a different language. And yes, you're right about usually working with other people's code. There are exceptions, but they're a bit rare until you get a good bit of experience." 

She drums her fingers for a moment. "Hmmm. Logic or UI? No, given you like modeling the whole thing, probably logic. Probably working with other people's code would be more tolerable if there were coherent naming and documentation standards? Some companies have that, mine for one, but not all. Any industries you particularly don't want to code for?"