The irony is dev #2 projects a textbook definition of 'passion' with their public displays of knowledge, name-dropping, and fancy job at an elite institution. B

The irony is dev #2 projects a textbook definition of 'passion' with their public displays of knowledge, name-dropping, and fancy job at an elite institution. But when circumstances change, the house of cards falls over. They'd staked their identity on something brittle: the appearance of an elite tech worker with the proper taste who is a member of the Inner Ring (per CS Lewis).