Oh, and that might sound like a smarmy little braggart teenager thing to anyone else, but Palamedes hears 'I'd have tested higher' and shoots Jun a knowing smirk, like, that's the spirit. That's some age-old smart kid confidence, and he can respect that. He, too, would have tested out of junior high, if he had to go and it was an option.

"A laser," he confirms, and then with the same sort of wow-Viktor-is-so-great enthusiasm, "He built it. If he could build a card catalog generator I'm sure he would, but instead, we're forced to suffer through Never Mind's nonsense."