Gabriel's smile returns. "Really?"
"And if it's true, think of the lab research it'll open up."
Gabriel looks like he's just been told that he won the lottery. "That's, uh, maybe premature?"
"Did you talk to Dr. Blankenship about it?"
"He didn't really, you know, welcome collaboration." Gabriel looks at your desk rather than you. "I was barely good enough to prepare his lab."
From what you remember about Dr. Blankenship, you're not surprised. "Well, he was foolish to let his insecurities lead him to ignore a promising line of research."
"Uh, you think it's promising?"
"Yes," you say. "I do."
Gabriel drums his fingers against the sides of his legs, then forces himself to stop. "So I can work on this theory?"
It's not exactly the research you had in mind. You'd planned on expanding your previous work with Dr. Smith on feral patterns. On the other hand, feral pattern research is a long-established sub-field. You and Gabriel would be investigating a truly new theory.
You estimate you'd need to spend around $2,000 of your start-up funds to change your lab to support Gabriel's summoning research. If you split time between your and Gabriel's research, you could skate by for about $1,000.