"We… that's not how we would characterize—" Dr. Whitmore began, her voice fraying like overstressed silk.
"How you characterize it is irrelevant," I cut in, the words scalpel-sharp. "What matters is that in four hours, every major media outlet in America will report exactly what transpired." I moved toward the wall screens, where remote faces had frozen in dawning horror. And when they do, both of your institutions are going to be at the center of the most devastating academic scandal in modern higher education."
Panic rippled through the room—a contagion spreading from the conference table to the digital gallery. On-screen, administrators frantically whispered to off-camera colleagues, their earlier complacency shattered.
