[x] Plan Attack him where he is Weak -[x] Flip the script. If you can get Anneal to back off, Dewpoint won't have a leg to stand on. --[x] Call Vant out for his failings. Make him look bad in front of Anneal. Give him cause to doubt her support. ---[x] He might be so desperate as to steal the achievements of his juniors, but that doesn't mean Anneal is. Does he have no pride? How many of his other achievements have been stolen from his betters? --[x] Mention offhand to Anneal that you found this cool thing with the spheres downstairs that she might find useful for a bit of rapid prototyping, and you'll be happy to share further once this unpleasantness is dealt with. (Yes, we will actually talk about the small spheres and how to use them and what we discovered about them once this is done.) --[x] If Vant gives you enough time, you can also call him out for how he seems to just assume that he's in charge and that others will go along with it, and how that's rude and really makes him unpleasant to be around. Does he think that acting like that makes him look better rather than worse? Is he really that clueless? --[x] If possible, move away from Angela so that the attack reflex of his wounded pride has to pick between you.