Chapter 138
Chapter 138:
The bell for the Guest Lecture Series rang.
The students filed into the main auditorium, a cavernous space with velvet seats and a stage that looked fit for Shakespeare.
Aurora sat near the back, isolated. No one dared sit next to her after the algorithm incident. She pulled a book from her bag—The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money—and began to read.
“Welcome, students,” Dean Blackwood boomed from the podium. “Today we welcome our visiting scholars p>
Aurora sighed. She hated pageantry.
“Please welcome Aurora Vance to the stage p>
Aurora closed her book. She stood up. She walked down the aisle.
As she ascended the stairs to the stage, the large projection screen behind the podium flickered to life.
A photo appeared.
It was massive. It was grotesque. It was a picture of a young woman who looked vaguely like Aurora, but with crooked teeth, bad skin, and dressed in dirty, torn clothes. The caption in bright red Comic Sans read: BEFORE THE BILLIONAIRE PAID FOR PLASTIC SURGERY.
The auditorium erupted. Laughter echoed off the vaulted ceiling. It was a wave of sound, crashing over her.
“Nice investment strategy!” a voice screamed from the front row. It was a girl from Quentin’s circle, a socialite named Heather Stone.
“Where’s the prenup?” someone else shouted.
Dean Blackwood looked flustered. “Turn it off! AV Club, turn it off p>
But the screen stayed frozen.
𝖁𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓:
Aurora stood at the podium. She didn’t shrink. She didn’t cry. She didn’t run.
She looked at the photo. She tilted her head, analyzing it.
She reached out and tapped the microphone.
SCREECH.
The feedback loop was agonizingly loud. Hands flew to ears. The laughter died instantly.
Aurora leaned into the mic. Her voice was calm, amplified to god-like proportions.
“Beauty is subjective,” she began. “But stupidity? Stupidity is objective p>
She turned and pointed at the screen.
“If you’re going to use Photoshop to bully someone, at least learn how to use the clone stamp tool properly p>
She gestured to the background of the fake photo.
“The shadow of the tree falls to the left. The shadow of the girl falls to the right. Unless there are two suns in this universe, this image is physically impossible p>
She turned back to the audience.
“Furthermore, the pixel density on the jawline doesn’t match the rest of the grain. It’s a low-effort composite. It implies laziness. It implies a lack of attention to detail p>
She scanned the crowd. Her green eyes landed on Heather Stone.
“If you’re going to attack me, do it with intelligence. Do it with skill. This?” She gestured dismissively at the screen. “This is boring p>