Dinner and a wager (2)

She paused, looking at each of them before continuing, "And as it turns out, that simulation provided conclusive proof that my latest idea will not work."

"What?" blurted Greg. He sounded lost, like a basement dweller discovering that his favorite D-Pop star was actually generated by AI and would never graduate to the soft-porn industry.

"Yes. I had planned to tell you about the results tonight and thank you for your generous donation to the University. It was your donation that finally allowed the University to purchase the Cerebras super computer and as a patron of our department, it allowed us to gain disproportionate compute time. I really must thank you. Without your donation, I might have spent years pursuing a dead end."

At first Greg looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, but then as she continued speaking, his expression shifted to one of preening. When she was done, it looked like he hadn't lost anything, but had instead won the Nobel prize.