Carter spent an hour in his room trying to calm down. The Protocol eventually stopped glitching and returned to normal. He studied the campus map it provided, and tried his best to memorize building locations and his schedule.First class was at two. Ascension Theory, taught by a Professor called Lucien Kane. The Protocol flagged it as mandatory attendance and marked Kane as important.Carter changed into clothes more appropriate for class. The blazer felt like a costume. Actually everything about this felt like a costume. But he put it on anyway and headed to the lecture hall.Carter followed the Protocol's directions to the third floor, down a hallway lined with photographs of successful alumni, celebrities and socialites. The lecture hall was already half full when Carter arrived. It was a stadium seating, and Carter could count about a hundred students total. He chose a seat toward the back, hoping to avoid attention.The Protocol immediately began scanning faces and tagging stud

Carter left his room with Sebastian's message burning in his mind. The Protocol kicked in immediately and projected a glowing blue arrow across his vision, pointing down the hallway with text that read: ROOM 304 - 47 METERS.His head still throbbed from the cafeteria incident. Every step felt like walking through water, slow and heavy. The hallway stretched ahead of him and seemed longer than it should be. Students passed him and their whispers followed like static."Is that really him?""He looks different.""I heard he had a breakdown."Some of them pulled out their phones. Carter could see himself in their screens, disheveled and tired, walking like a ghost through his own life. The Protocol tagged each face but Carter ignored the data. He just wanted to get to Sebastian and figure out what the hell he was supposed to do about this impossible evaluation.The hallways were nice enough. Clean white walls, decent lighting, doors spaced evenly apart. Nothing spectacular but comfortable

Sebastian didn't push. Instead he ordered pizza and they sat on his couch eating in silence while some basketball game played on the TV. Carter barely tasted the food. His mind was still in the lobby, replaying the fight, the humiliation, the way everyone had looked at him like he was garbage.Finally, Sebastian spoke. "You're different."Carter froze with pizza halfway to his mouth. "What do you mean?""You're just... different. I can't explain it. The way you talk, the way you move, even the way you eat." Sebastian studied him with an intensity that made Carter want to look away. "It's like you're wearing your own skin wrong."The Protocol flashed a warning across Carter's vision but he ignored it. "I told you, I went through some stuff. People change.""Not like this." Sebastian set down his pizza and turned to face Carter fully. "I've known you since we were twelve, Owen. We've been through everything together. Summer camps, family vacations, every major moment of our lives. And I

The Unity Collective had a small studio space in one of the campus buildings. Nothing fancy, but functional. Ring lights stood on tripods in each corner, cameras mounted on stands, a green screen hung against one wall, and editing equipment cluttered a desk shoved against the window.Clara explained that they pooled their resources to rent it while adjusting a camera angle. "It's expensive but worth it. We can control everything here. Lighting, sound, background. Makes our content look more professional than filming in dorm rooms."They spent the afternoon filming. Each person created content featuring Carter in some way and the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed. Amaya filmed a cooking video where Carter attempted to help make some complicated pasta dish and failed spectacularly. Flour ended up everywhere. He burned the sauce. The noodles stuck together in a clump. But Amaya laughed the whole time and turned his failures into comedy, making it feel less like humiliation and more li

After the incident and the laughter died down, the group started to relax. The tension that had filled the courtyard during the Unity Drink challenge dissolved into something lighter. Rex pulled out a bluetooth speaker from his backpack and connected his phone. Music started playing, something with a heavy bass line that made the air vibrate. Milo started dancing badly on purpose and making exaggerated moves that had Clara cracking up while filming him.More students drifted over, drawn by the music and the energy. Someone brought out a frisbee and started tossing it around. Juno sat on the edge of the fountain with his laptop, editing footage but bobbing his head to the beat. The whole scene felt weirdly normal, like a regular college hangout instead of the content obsessed pressure cooker that Star Academy usually was.Carter stood off to the side, still feeling the awful taste in his mouth and the heavy weight of the drink sitting in his stomach. He watched the others laugh and jok