((I actually thought of the very same thing, but didn’t want to impose! Yes, I think they definitely should have heard of each other, they probably ran in the same academic circles, until he accepted Giovanni’s offer...))

She watched him carry the star, even giggled a bit, at how he wrapped it. “It’s just like a sleeping baby! I wonder if stars dream...”

“Oh, no, he wasn’t a doctor like the ones at hospitals, my papa was researching cloning! Making copies of living things, like Pokemon...”

She only looked and sounded about eight, because that was how old she was in life, but she had been reawakened several times in four year courses... if she were growing normally, she might be 12 or even 16! But every time she died and came back, she was always only eight, but with a few more years of memories of the lab, her father, and her fellow clones.

A life in stasis, mostly spent in memories and make-believe, where she could not truly grow, until now.

She heard enough in the lab about the project to repeat some of it, but knew no more about the outside world.

If he asked more, she might tell him later when he’s not carrying something dangerous, that she was one of the test subjects too!

“That’s good! Let’s go there, Professor!”