[Charlie and Amita are standing before a chalkboard full of equations, as usual]
Charlie Eppes: Amita... you know, I didn't think you could make this work. But you've come up with a novel approach to solve this problem.
Amita Ramanujan: Spent six months getting nowhere until I thought - if you can't come in the front door, climb through a window.
[Charlie laughs]
Charlie Eppes: Well, you've obviously, certainly, come a long way in your thesis work.
Amita Ramanujan: Thank you.
[she grins]
Amita Ramanujan: You know what the weird thing is?
Charlie Eppes: What's that?
Amita Ramanujan: Well, I realized how much I enjoy being here, at CalSci.
Charlie Eppes: That's good, I'm glad to hear that.
Amita Ramanujan: Well, I was hoping you'd say that, because... I'm seriously considering getting a second PhD.
[Charlie's eyebrows go up]
Amita Ramanujan: In... astrophysics.
Charlie Eppes: ...No. Don't do that.
[Amita grins and sighs and Charlie continues, teasingly]
Charlie Eppes: Don't tell me I've been working with you for over two years on combinatorics, and you're just going to throw that all away for physics?
Amita Ramanujan: Charlie, astrophysics and computer science make a pretty good match.
[Charlie hms skeptically]
Amita Ramanujan: Besides, I've really realized how much I like... being here.
Charlie Eppes: So you'd do your work here.
Amita Ramanujan: [nods] ... Of course, I'd have a different advisor.
Charlie Eppes: [softly] ... Of course.
Amita Ramanujan: Which means that... I wouldn't be your student anymore.
Charlie Eppes: I guess that's true, isn't it?
[the two of them share a long moment just looking at each other and smiling, until they're interrupted by the NTSB official]
