Chapter 333
Chapter 333
Caleb was a little surprised when he saw Celeste . He called gut , “ Ms. Rodriguez ? ”
Celeste nodded . “ Hello , Mr. Jennings . ”
Caleb smiled , glancing at her . “ Are you stationed here for work now ? ”
She shook her head . “ No , my mentor asked me to come assist with something ”
That made him pause .
Very few people had the authority to bring in outside personnel .
Then , Caleb remembered her close relationship with Matthias and how the two weren’t romantically involved .
It clicked “ Your mentor … is Mr. Newman ? ”
“ Yeah , ” Celeste answered with a slight nod .
So , she was really one of Zachary’s students , just like Matthias ,
He hadn’t even thought to connect those dots until now .
However , if she were Zachary’s student , everything suddenly made a lot of sense .
Like why Matthias had gone out of his way at the banquet to credit her to YodaVision’s recent breakthrough , or why his father had paid such close attention to her. It wasn’t just at his grandfather’s art exhibition but also at the forum Jorge attended .
His father must have known her background all along
Still , being one of Zachary’s students alone wouldn’t have earned that level of interest .
Unless-
Unless those two headline – making projects from YodaVision were hers .
That possibility hit Caleb all at once .
He stared at Celeste , momentarily speechless .
Celeste was quiet and composed , and she never sought attention . He had never guessed someone so unassuming and young could have accomplished so much .
They found a spot in the cafeteria and sat down .
“ How long are you staying on base this time ? ” Caleb asked .
“ I’m not sure . It will depend on my mentor . ”
Celeste paused and then added , “ Feels like it’s been months since I saw you outside of work . Is training keeping you that busy ? ”
Caleb nodded slightly . “ Yeah , pilots don’t exactly get generous vacation time . ”
He didn’t have much of a lunch break either . After a brief conversation , he excused himself and headed off to deal with other duties .
He saw her again two days later in an Al – human combat drill .
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Chapter 333
It was a live simulation pitting human pilots against Al – controlled jets .
Once the data was collected , Celeste and the researchers immediately got to work , tweaking algorithms and diving into another round of analysis based on combat dynamics .
When Caleb walked into her department , he spotted her among the flurry of focused researchers .
She didn’t notice him right away .
When she finally looked up , she gave a polite nod and then returned to her screen without missing a beat .
Celeste remained on base for nearly ten days before heading back .
She left the base in the dead of night and arrived home just as the sun was rising
When she turned her phone back on , nearly 20 missed calls lit up the screen .
Kieran , Beck , Jordyn , and even Trevor had tried to reach her
She could pretty much guess why Jordyn and Trevor had called .
Kieran had called first and the most .
Hence , she dialed him back first .
Kieran picked up almost immediately . “ You’re finally done ? ”
“ Yes , ” Celeste replied . “ Was something wrong ? Did it get resolved ?”
“There was , but everything’s fine now . ”
Ten days ago , he had shown up at the theater and didn’t see her . Her phone kept going straight to voicemail , and
when she didn’t show up at work on Monday , he thought something serious had happened .
He ended up going to Matthias and found out she had a family matter to deal with
Now that he knew she was all alright , he could finally relax .
Chapter 334
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Chapter 334