The morning sun rose over Haven University, its light reflecting off the rain-slicked stones of the quad. To the outside world, it was just another Tuesday. Students were rushing to lectures, clutching their coffees and tablets, unaware that the fate of the school’s most prestigious department was being decided in the ivory tower of the administration building.
Conrad Stone walked through the campus gates with Clara Lynn at his side. He wasn't wearing a suit; he was in his usual dark jacket and jeans, looking like a common laborer or perhaps a graduate student who had seen too many late nights. But there was a gravity to his stride that made people instinctively move out of his way.
Clara, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves. She was wearing her white lab coat—a symbol of the profe
