Vivienne Dubois leaned closer to Lennox as they sat at the tech expo dinner, her eyes flicking toward the far end of the table where Elara Vance sat.
"I'm surprised she even showed up," Vivienne remarked quietly. "But with Damien here, she wouldn't dare cause a scene."
Lennox nodded, adjusting her elegant blazer. "She knows better than to jeopardize Julian's business opportunities."
What they failed to notice was how deeply engaged Elara was in conversation with Bryson Leonard, a brilliant systems engineer she'd met earlier at the expo. Unlike the strained politeness she'd maintained throughout the day, her expression now showed genuine interest.
"Your approach to quantum processing is fascinating," Elara said, her voice animated despite keeping it low. "I've been working on similar integration issues with our emotional recognition algorithms."
Bryson's eyes lit up. "The recursive functions you mentioned earlier could solve the latency problems we've been facing."