Chapter 136
Chapter 136:
Aurora stood on the pavement, adjusting the strap of her bag. She felt the weight of the gazes of the students around her.
She checked her phone.
Harper: Good luck, genius. Don’t intimidate them too much. Or do. Actually, definitely do.
Aurora smirked. She pocketed her phone and walked through the gates.
The campus was bustling. But unlike the anonymous crowds of the city, this crowd watched her. The news about Pulse Interactive, the shorting of Sterling’s stock, and her association with Elias Thorne had made her a campus celebrity—or pariah, depending on who you asked.
“Is that her p>
“The one from the gala p>
“I heard she shorted Sterling Conglomerate and walked away with millions p>
“Gold digger p>
“Corporate shark p>
The whispers were not subtle. They were designed to be heard.
Aurora kept her head high, her face a mask of indifference. She had faced down Sterling Thorne in a boardroom. She had fought thugs in an alley. A bunch of trust fund grad students with sharp tongues were not a threat.
Near the entrance to the Mathematics Department, a group of students stood in a tight circle. At their center was Quentin Sharp, a PhD candidate known for his brilliance and his insufferable arrogance.
Quentin spotted Aurora. He nudged the guy next to him and smirked. It was a cruel, practiced expression.
Aurora didn’t break stride. She walked past them, up the stairs, and into the cool, shadowed hallway.
Keep reading at gⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⨻co𝗺
Seminar: Advanced Algorithmic Theory.
She found the lecture hall. It smelled of chalk dust and old wood.
Professor Harrison, a man who looked like he had been teaching since the building was constructed, stopped writing on the board as Aurora entered.
“You must be Ms. Vance,” he said. His voice was dry.
Twenty heads turned. These weren’t high schoolers; they were the elite of the elite, future quants and data scientists.
“Yes,” Aurora said.
“Take a seat. Back row p>
Aurora walked down the aisle. She ignored the stares.
She sat in the back.
Professor Harrison turned to the board. He picked up a fresh piece of chalk.
“We are discussing quantum optimization today,” he announced. “However, to test the mettle of our new arrival—and remind the rest of you of your inadequacy—I have placed a problem on the board p>
He pointed to a complex equation scrawled in white. It was a beast of a problem, involving nonlinear variables and chaotic systems.
“This is my own Conjecture of Asymptotic Stability from 1998,” Harrison said, tapping the board. “I published it as a challenge to my doctoral candidates. In twenty years, no student has successfully derived the proofs for the third variable set p>