Instinctively, Jake caught her elbow when she tripped, his movement blurred, even though her trip hadn't been nearly severe enough to fall. "I'm not quite sure specifically what autonomous means, but I'm going to assume it has something to do with y'know, something that... runs on it's own power or something." He nodded. Only belatedly did he realize he was still holding Eva's elbow. He dropped his hand quickly and clasped both of them behind his back. He cleared his throat. "Anyway. That's good. And it'll give the other kids - the other people - voices. A lot of them are smart. And sometimes struggling with training makes you feel stupid. So getting some of them to teach would probably help with their confidence. And general outlook on life. It'll make them feel needed. I mean more needed than usual. Like obviously they're needed right now. But sometimes it feels like we're not entirely needed and this will feel more - productive, I guess is the word. I don't remember what my point is," he concluded, frowning.
Well, at least she didn't regret Byrne. He didn't regret it either. And she was right. It is where they got stronger. "You know, Eva," he began, his voice slightly lower and much more serious, "if this doesn't work out, and colleges still refuse to take you, it's not because of you, right? You'll still be smart. It'll have nothing to do with anything that's wrong with you. Because there's nothing wrong with you. It's important that you know that."