Summer’s hands were steady as she extended the full mugs to him and nodded toward Allen and Peri. Exhaling heavily, he took them, shoulders back in unrepentance as he passed within feet of Professor Milo. Why do you hate me so much, old man?
Peri beamed up at him, sitting in Summer’s reading chair with her arms draped across it as if nothing were wrong. “Thanks, Silas,” she said as she reached for the offered coffee. But he couldn’t help but notice she set it aside untasted.
“Allen?” he prompted, and Allen looked up from where he sat perched at the front of the couch, his elbows on his knees as his fate was decided.
“No, thanks. I want to sleep tonight,” he muttered, and Silas kept the mug, retreating to stand before the tiny fireplace where he could see everyone. In the kitchen, Summer made a second pot of coffee, desperately trying to do something normal.
That they had removed Allen’s and Summer’s chipped bracelets wasn’t a direct link to the malfunctioning mainframe, but that didn’t seem to matter to Professor Milo.
“You will be expelled for this, Dr. Denier,” Professor Milo said, face red. “Removed from the program entirely.”
Fat chance, Silas thought as Professor Woo drew himself up in anger. “You can’t do that, Milo,” he said, and Milo looked the smaller man up and down in threat.
“No? See if I don’t.”
Head craned, Professor Woo pushed into Milo’s space, almost shoving the taller man onto the couch. “I have listened to you rant for twenty minutes now. Get off my student’s back. It’s a year-end prank. Let it go at that.”
“Prank!” Milo became choleric. “They destroyed an entire semester’s grades.”
“Prove it,” Allen muttered, and behind Peri, Dr. Cavana chuckled, hiding it with a cough.
Professor Woo backed up, his expression grim. “I checked into it while you were on your tirade. It doesn’t need rebuilding. The system is in a reboot spiral. Whoever did it can undo it. Your reactions are not based on the current situation but on your bruised pride, and I won’t let you kick Denier out of the program because he’s smarter than you and you can’t handle it.”
Speechless, Professor Milo stared at the slight man, his face flushed as his darting gaze read amusement all around. His eyes fastened on Silas, and the hatred poured from him.
Thanks. That helps a lot, Professor Woo.
Dr. Cavana bent at the waist, his lips near Peri’s ear as he touched her shoulder and said, “Doesn’t take you long, does it.”
Leaning to the side, she beamed up at him. “I was trying to make friends.”
Sighing, he straightened, hand still atop her shoulder. “Maybe I should transfer out here,” he said, and Peri’s expression froze as his -fingers gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Or do you think you can keep from antagonizing the apple cart from here on out.”
Silas’s eyebrows rose. Two sentences. That’s all the punishment she had needed. Peri, while clearly not about to subscribe to a halo, would be more careful in her independence, if only to make sure she maintained it. It was a warning well heard.
“Are we being questioned?” Silas suddenly asked. “Is this a formal hearing? If not, I’d like you all to leave.”
“Silas,” Summer quietly protested, but he was well within his rights, and they all knew it.
Dr. Cavana cleared his throat to speak, but Professor Milo nervously blurted, “I see no reason to take this outside academia. Silas will be removed from the program—”
“On what grounds?” Allen protested, jaw clenching when Milo turned his anger to him. “You can’t prove we had anything to do with anything.”
“Tampering with and removing an underclassman’s security bracelet. Interfering with six students’ finals. Give me time,” Milo said forcefully. “I’ll come up with more. You and Summer will remain on probation and will be required to repeat the entire semester, since we seem to be unable to access your grades. And as for Reed?”
Peri looked up from under her bangs, placidly waiting.
“There is no way I will approve accelerating her studies,” Professor Milo said, missing the danger as he was focused on Peri and not Dr. Cavana behind her. “She can start with the freshmen like every other incoming student.”
Peri looked up and behind her at Dr. Cavana with an easy expectance. Silas could almost see her silent communication: I’ll behave if you get me out of this.
“That is not what is going to happen,” Dr. Cavana said calmly. “I warned you not to underestimate her, and you housed her with beginners and maybes,” he said, his tone edging into disgust. “She found the excellence among your ranks and took them somewhere new, as I trained her. If you force her to stay with the freshmen, you will have four years of this, not one.” Lips in a wry smile, he turned to Professor Woo. “You’re right. I’m beginning to see where the issues are stemming from.”