"I'll help her out," Nathan said.Mrs. Leen blinked, her dry-erase marker hovering inches from the whiteboard. She turned her attention to the middle row, her eyes landing on the boy in the deep blue coat.Before she could even invite him to speak, the room collectively groaned. The silence that had gripped the lecture hall just moments ago completely shattered, replaced by a low, toxic wave of murmurs and poorly hidden sneers."Oh my god, look at the simp," a guy two rows down muttered loudly to his buddy, not even trying to hide it."He just wants to get the new girl's attention," a girl scoffed from the back, rolling her eyes so hard it looked painful."Show off," someone hissed."Fucking loser. Go grab a mop," another voice added, dripping with venom.They were so predictable. At Braxton College, the social hierarchy dictated that the kid who cleaned the floors was not allowed to outsmart the kids who paid the tuition. They assumed Nathan was just throwing himself on a grenade to

Nathan pushed open the heavy, reinforced doors of the East Wing laboratory. The hinges groaned a loud, metallic protest, a sound that told him no one had bothered to oil them in months.He stepped inside and let the door click shut behind him, cutting off the distant, muffled sounds of the college campus.The air in the room was stale, thick with the smell of undisturbed dust and the faint, lingering chemical odor of old experiments. The East Wing lab had been officially decommissioned over two years ago. The university claimed it was due to a lack of funding for ventilation upgrades, but Nathan knew the truth. They had simply built a newer, shinier building for the investors to look at, leaving this place to rot.Nathan remembered this room vividly. When it was still barely functioning, he was the one assigned to keep it clean. He had spent hundreds of hours in here, wiping down the black slate tables, sweeping up shattered glass beakers, and keeping every speck of dust away from the

"Prepare yourselves, Braxton. You have two weeks until Oasis Celeste. Class dismissed."The words hadn't even fully settled in the heavy air of the grand convocation hall before the room absolutely shattered. It was a total, unhinged frenzy.They were scrambling over chairs to find their project partners, already shouting about business pitches and project ideas. It was a gold rush. The prize wasn't just money; it was absolute, historic fame and federal power. Emphasis on the fame. Braxton students thrived on fame. They ate fame for breakfast lunch and dinner.Students literally screamied at the top of their lungs. Girls hugged each other, jumping up and down, while frat boys high-fived and threw signs in the air. They were cheering like they had just won the lottery, and ..quite frankly, in the academic world of the elite, they basically had. See, Braxton College had been chasing an invitation to Oasis Celeste with their lives. Ever since a massive, highly publicized legal issue in

Nathan’s eyes fluttered open, heavy and reluctant.The first thing that registered was the dull, rhythmic throbbing at the base of his skull. It felt like someone had driven a hot spike right behind his left ear. He groaned softly, his chin resting against his chest. His mouth tasted like old pennies and harsh chemicals. Chloroform. Or something close to it.He tried to bring his hands up to rub his temples, but his arms didn't move.The sharp, biting pinch of thick plastic dug directly into the skin of his wrists, locking his hands firmly behind his back. He shifted his weight. His ankles were bound the exact same way to the legs of a heavy metal chair.Nathan didn't panic. He didn't thrash around or scream for help. Panic was an emotion reserved for people who didn't know what was happening. Nathan knew exactly what was happening. He just breathed in through his nose, letting the cold, stale air fill his lungs, and slowly opened his eyes to take stock of his surroundings.The room w

Epstein leaned forward, staring a hole through Nathan. "You are going to break your encryption. Whatever custom garbage code you used to lock my precious machine, you are going to dismantle it. You will sit with Grayson here, and you will show him exactly how the core architecture works. Every. Single. Detail. Do you understand me?""And if I don't?" Nathan asked mildly."Then I ruin your life permanently," Epstein said simply.He reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a thick stack of stapled papers. He tossed them onto the table so they slid right in front of Nathan."Legal papers," Epstein explained, tapping the top page. "A full, retroactive transfer of intellectual property rights. It states that you built this machine using university funds, university equipment, and university time, thereby making it the sole property of Braxton College and its lead researcher, Mark Epstein."Nathan glanced down at the papers. "A confession of theft wrapped in legalese. How creativ