“Boss, I''ll just—” Before Flint could finish, Shanley''s cold, low growl filled the room. "Get out."
"Right away." Flint immediately dropped the files and practically scrambled out of the Cloudscape Community apartment. His bonus versus his life... he chose life.
"Mr. Schwartz, won''t you have some breakfast?" Dana asked cautiously.
"Not hungry.” Shanley shot to his feet, but the sudden movement pulled at his wound, the pain nearly doubling him over. What was the point of eating? He might as well starve. It wasn''t like anyone cared.
"Are you sure?” Dana swirled the soup in her hands, a smile ying on her lips. "Ms. Payne made this herbal soup herself."
“Juniper made it?" Shanley stopped and turned back to Dana, his lips twitching into a faint line.
“Yes,” Dana said, pouring a bowl as her smile deepened. “She said the timing for this recipe had to be strictly controlled, so she handled it personally."
Shanley obediently returned to his seat. After finishing one bowl, hemanded, "Bring me the whole pot."
“Huh?” Dana was momentarily stunned. He was going to drink that entire pot of foul- tasting medicinal broth in one go? But then she remembered it was made by Ms. Payne. He''d probably drink poison if she served it.
At the main entrance of Era University, a congrattory banner was on disy, featuring a photo of Professor Tucker, the grand champion of the World Programming Competition. The old man had toiled for so many years; his hard work had finally paid off.
Juniper smiled to herself. This meant the snack supply in theb was about to get a major upgrade. With that happy thought, she quickened her pace toward theboratory.
Within minutes, she noticed surprised stares and hushed whispers from the students around her.
"Wow, it''s Juniper."
"The former champion of the World Programming Competition finals is a student here with us."
"Yeah, she''s good enough to be giving lectures to theputer science professors."
"So, how much of Tucker''s championship was actually his own work?"
"The university forum is blowing up. They''re saying Tucker''s project might be giarized."
Although the giarism usation
had been cleared up on the spot, the news hadn''t fully disseminated internationally. And with the
university''s more na?ve''s
naive students
having missed the live stream and
being swayed by the forum''s gossip, they naturally couldn''t telbfact from fiction.
Juniper wondered who had posted such pointless drivel on the forum. She pulled out her phone and
casually scrolled through it. The
nderousments were appalling, with most of them questioning the legitimacy of
ve
fucker''s award and branding him an academic fraud who had vited professional ethics. The general
sentiment had shifted from admiring
his victory to suspicion of
giarism.
It took her less than half a minute to lock onto a suspect. She had considered letting
him off the hook, but now she saw there was no need.
The Auditorium.
Today was the day Tucker was being honored by the university for his victory.
Juniper easily found her ss''s designated section. "Goddess."
At the sight of her, the first-yearputer science students all stood up, their expressions ridiculously respectful. They thought she was on leave and wouldn''t be back until next week.
Students from other years also craned their necks, curious to get a look at the programming prodigy.
“Cut the formalities,” Juniper said
with a slight frown, her clear voice
calm and nonchnt. What was she,
some rare animal in a zoo for
everyone to stare at? This was so embarrassing.
“Juniper, hurry, sit,” Hattie said, moving over to make a spot for Juniper between her
and their other two roommates.
"Have some snacks."
"Have some water."
Her other two roommates immediately produced a stash of her favorite treats they
had prepared in advance.
"Thanks."