The elevator doors opened. We walked out into the lobby, past security guards and corporate drones and people who had no idea they were standing next to someone whose existence broke half the rules they'd been taught about how the world worked.
My phone buzzed.
NOEL: You're late.
I checked the time. 3:47 PM.
ROME: You said 3.
NOEL: I said don't be late. That implies arriving early.
ROME: That's insane logic.
NOEL: It's efficient logic. Conference room 2-B. Now.
I showed the screen to Cheon. "Duty calls."
"Noel?"
"Yeah."
"Try not to have sex with her on campus this time."
"No promises."
Marco dropped me at the academy gates. I walked through the quad with my hands in my pockets, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed me everywhere now. The match footage had made me famous in the worst possible way. Everyone wanted to know how the academy's biggest disappointment had suddenly become its most dangerous student.
