The Evaluation Hall was massive, designed to hold the entire student body of Star Academy. Stadium seating rose up in curved tiers around a central stage where Professor Kane and the evaluation committee sat behind a long table. The Beacon's rankings were projected on enormous screens all around the room, numbers constantly shifting and updating as students entered and found their seats.Carter walked in and the noise level dropped. Just for a second. Then it rose again, louder than before. Laughter rippled through the crowd. Whispers spread like wildfire. Phones came out everywhere, hundreds of them, all pointed at him.He found a seat in the back corner, as far from the stage as possible. Sebastian sat next to him without being asked, his jaw set tight. He glared at anyone who looked their way too long or pointed their phone in Carter's direction.The Unity Collective was in the front row, all sitting together. Amaya glanced back over her shoulder, caught Carter's eye, and waved. Ac

Carter woke in the medical center alone. The antiseptic smell was still there but Dr. Mora was gone. On the small table beside his bed sat discharge papers and a handwritten note on expensive stationery."Three months. Don't waste them."Carter folded the note and shoved it in his pocket. His body still ached but the medication had worn off enough that he could think clearly. The IV was out, leaving just a small bandage on his arm.The Protocol booted up. Not the glitchy, stuttering version from before. This was smooth, responsive, like it had been rebuilt from the ground up. A notification appeared immediately.SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE. ALL FUNCTIONS RESTORED. POWER POINT SELECTION PENDING.The four options appeared in his vision, each one with detailed descriptions he hadn't seen before.NEURO SURGE: Enhanced cognitive processing and tactical analysis. Allows rapid evaluation of complex social situations and identification of optimal strategies. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 2 hours.

Carter woke the next morning to chaos. Not in his room but outside. Shouting. Running. The sound of hundreds of students all reacting to something at once.It was six AM. Way too early for this much noise.Tyler was already at the window. "Holy shit. Someone hit The Beacon."Demo sat up in his bunk. "What?""The Beacon. Someone vandalized it. There's paint everywhere."The whole room rushed to the window except Kevin, who was still asleep in his gaming chair with his headphones on.Carter looked out. Even from here, blocks away, he could see The Beacon. The massive fifty foot LED tower that displayed real time rankings for every student. It was the heart of the academy. The physical manifestation of everything Star Academy stood for.And someone had covered it in graffiti.The Protocol activated automatically, pulling in social media feeds, analyzing the situation.CAMPUS WIDE INCIDENT. SECURITY BREACH. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO PROTECTED STRUCTURE.Demo was already getting dressed. "We

Carter spent the next day preparing. Or trying to prepare. The problem was he had no idea how to apologize sincerely when he didn't fully understand what he'd done wrong in the first place.He'd rejected Felix's help. That was clear. But the emotions behind it, the fear and distrust that made him lash out, those were harder to explain without revealing too much about Amaya's betrayal and his own paranoia.The Protocol offered scripted responses, phrases designed for maximum emotional impact. Carter ignored them. If he was going to do this, it had to be genuine. Felix would see through a performance.That morning's Bronze class was Economics of Influence taught by Professor Reeves, a tired looking woman in her fifties who seemed genuinely interested in helping Bronze students succeed. It was a dramatic contrast to Kane."Social capital," she explained, writing on an actual whiteboard instead of using fancy tech, "is the currency of Star Academy. Your relationships, your reputation, you

Carter woke to Demo shaking his shoulder urgently.“Grace. Wake up. Something happened,” Demo said, still gripping his arm.Carter sat up, blinking against the early light. “What?” he asked.“Security swept Bronze dorms last night,” Demo said. “They were looking for evidence about the Beacon vandalism. Took some students’ computers, phones, equipment.”Carter pushed off the blanket and sat straighter. “Did they take anything from our room?” he asked.“No,” Demo said, stepping back. “But they took Isla Chen’s entire setup. Cameras, laptop, hard drives. Everything.”Carter’s stomach turned. All their footage, the entire day of filming, was gone. He reached for his phone and called Isla.She answered on the first ring. “They took everything,” Isla said. “Every piece of equipment I owned. They said it was part of their investigation into the vandalism.”“But we weren’t involved in that,” Carter said.“They don’t care,” Isla said. “They’re using it as an excuse to shut down anyone creating