After shooting off the message, Mirabe stood by the elevator, waiting for about five minutes without getting any reply.


    Weird.


    Matthew nced at her. "Dr. Elliot hasn''t responded yet?"


    Mirabe nodded.


    "He''s probably tied up. Let''s give it a bit longer," Matthew said patiently.


    "Alright."


    They waited another five or six minutes by the elevator, still no response from Messenger, but they did see a professor passing by.


    Matthew, spotting the professor, quickly nodded respectfully, "Good day, Mr. Robert."


    Robert, juggling a stack of papers, acknowledged the greeting with a brief nod, his eyes briefly sweeping over Matthew and Mirabe before he continued to the elevator and swiped his card.


    The door opened, and he stepped in.


    Watching Mr. Robert''s back, Matthew remembered he had ess to the fifth floor. Just before the elevator doors shut, he quickly blocked them, "Hold on a sec."


    Robert raised an eyebrow at Matthew, who quickly exined, "Mr. Robert, could you give her a lift to Dr. Elliot''s office?"


    Matthew pointed at Mirabe, still standing outside the elevator, and continued, "She''s a freshman. Dr. Elliot asked her toe by, but she doesn''t have ess to the fifth floor."


    Robert''s gazended on Mirabe, "You''re the new humanities valedictorian, Mirabe?"


    Mirabe responded softly, polite yet confident, "Yes, that''s me."


    Recalling Dr. Elliot''s prior instructions, Robert''s tone softened, "Come with me."


    Matthew hadn''t expected Mr. Robert to agree so easily. He quickly turned to Mirabe, signaling her to hop in.


    Once Mirabe was in the elevator, Matthew wisely stepped back. The fifth floor wasn''t a ce ordinary students could just stroll into.


    The elevator ascended smoothly, reaching the fifth floor in no time.


    Mirabe waited a couple of seconds, letting Mr. Robert exit first before following. Robert didn''t say much but kept a discreet eye on Mirabe''s demeanor.


    Dr. Elliot''s office was at the end of the hallway, secured with a keypad lock. Robert punched in the code, and with a beep, the door opened.


    As he walked in, Robert mentioned, "Dr. Elliot''s in a meeting with the admin. He shouldn''t be long. You can wait here."


    Mirabe nodded, now understanding why there was no reply on Messenger; he must''ve been in the meeting.


    Robert gestured for Mirabe to sit on the sofa and wait, poured her a ss of water, and then headed to the bookshelf with his papers, diving into his work.


    The start of the academic year is always chaotic, leaving little time for chit-chat.


    Mirabe didn''t feel awkward sitting there. Her eyes fell on a Physical Review Letters magazine on the ss coffee table, featuring a paper on condensed matter physics maism by Dr. Elliot.


    She raised an eyebrow, set her files aside, and reached for the magazine.


    PRL, short for Physical Review Letters, is the highest-impact journal in the field of physics. Getting published there signifies major influence.


    The journal is published by the American Physical Society, so it''s all in English.