Chapter 6 6

The lobby of Stokes Global was a cathedral of capitalism. Vaulted ceilings, polished terrazzo floors, and a security desk that looked like the bridge of a starship.

Elodie sat in the waiting area, clutching a folder containing a resume that was entirely fabricated. It listed "Junior Assistant" and "Data Entry" as her peak achievements.

The revolving doors spun.

An old man walked in. He wore a tweed jacket with elbow patches, looking completely out of place among the sharp suits of Wall Street.

Elodie froze.

It was Professor Dalton. The Dean of Computer Science at MIT.

He stopped at the security desk, looking confused. Then he turned and scanned the room. His eyes landed on Elodie.

He squinted. He took a step toward her.

"Excuse me," he said, his voice raspy. "You look incredibly familiar. Are you... did you take my Cryptography 401 seminar? The student who wrote the Lugi kernel?"

Elodie's heart hammered against her ribs. She lowered her head, letting her hair fall forward.

"I think you have the wrong person, sir," she whispered. "I didn't go to MIT."

"Really?" Dalton frowned. "The bone structure... the eyes... I could have sworn..."

"Professor Dalton!"

Arlen Brewer's voice cut through the air like a whip. He was marching across the lobby, carrying a briefcase stamped with the Schneider logo.

Arlen stepped between Dalton and Elodie, physically blocking the professor.

"Don't waste your time with her, Professor," Arlen sneered. "She's a stalker."

Dalton blinked. "A stalker?"

"She's Keyon Schneider's ex-wife," Arlen announced loudly. "She follows us everywhere. She's mentally unstable. Desperate for a payout."

Elodie gripped her folder. Her knuckles turned white. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tell Dalton the truth-that she had aced his class under a pseudonym, that she was the one who fixed his algorithm in 2018.

But she couldn't. Not with Arlen there. She forced her shoulders to slump, adopting the posture of a defeated woman. She made her eyes wide and vacant, stripping away the intelligence that Dalton had recognized.

"She doesn't know a line of code from a grocery list," Arlen laughed. "She thinks Python is a snake."

Dalton looked at Elodie. He saw a woman in an ill-fitting suit, cowering, silent. He searched for the spark of genius he remembered, the defiant glint of Solaris. But Elodie had buried it deep.

The light in his eyes faded. "Ah. My mistake. The student I'm thinking of... she had a fire in her. You're right. It's not her."

The disappointment in his voice hurt more than Arlen's insults.

"Elodie Dickson?" The receptionist called out.

Elodie stood up. She kept her head down. "That's me."

"Don't let me catch you upstairs," Arlen hissed as she passed him. "I'll have security drag you out."

Elodie walked to the elevators. She didn't look back.

Upstairs, the HR manager was a stern woman named Ms. Vance.

"Can you use Excel?" Vance asked, bored.

"Yes," Elodie said. "I learn fast."

"We need someone to answer phones, make coffee, and file invoices. It's mindless work. Can you handle mindless?"

"Mindless is fine," Elodie said.

"Keyon Schneider called," Vance said suddenly. "He tried to block your hiring."

Elodie's stomach dropped.

"However," Vance continued, a small smile playing on her lips, "Mr. Derrick Stokes overheard the call. He instructed me to hire you immediately."

Elodie blinked. "Why?"

"Because Mr. Stokes hates being told what to do by Mr. Schneider. If Keyon doesn't want you here, Derrick wants you here."

"I'm hired?"

"You start tomorrow. 8:00 AM. Don't be late."

Down in the lobby, Professor Dalton was leaving. He paused at the door. He looked back at the elevators where Elodie had disappeared.

He pulled a photo from his wallet. It was a group shot from a hackathon. A girl with long hair was turned away from the camera, wearing a hoodie that said Solaris.

"The walk," Dalton muttered to himself. "It's the same walk."