After chatting late into the night, Tony Snow and his roommates finally returned to their beds.
It had been a long time since Tony had experienced the warmth of dormitory chatter after lights out.
In his hometown, schools were categorized by their academic quality. The top-tier schools had nearly 100% college admission rates. The mid-tier ones hovered around 40-50%, while the bottom-tier schools rarely saw students enter universities. Junior high schools in the city performed far better than those in rural areas, where only half the students would make it to high school.
Tony himself had attended a rural junior high and a second-tier high school. In those days, phones were rare. Back then, late-night conversations with roommates were the norm, even for those who had access to devices like MP4s. But once Tony committed to his studies, those talks dwindled.
Now in university, everyone had smartphones. Even after lights out, they were immersed in games, videos, or chatting online. Heart-to-heart talks became a relic of the past.
The next morning, during class, Clara Quinn—who sat next to Tony—asked him about the paper he'd submitted. Clara had heard from her roommate (who happened to be dating Tony's roommate Liam) that Tony had a mathematics paper accepted by a world-renowned journal.
Tony confirmed it, and Clara was both amazed and thoughtful.
The day was packed with lectures and lab sessions. But thanks to the experimental proficiency he'd acquired from the life simulator, Tony performed flawlessly in the afternoon's labs.
That evening, Tony returned to the library. He submitted a new paper—this one focused on the future of Artificial Intelligence. Unlike his previous submission, this paper went to a domestic journal: the Journal of Intelligent Systems. Although not internationally acclaimed, the journal was reputable within the tech community and backed by a fictional national institution.
Tony chose this journal not for prestige but for strategy. The paper, titled "Algorithm Discussion," offered foresight into AI's future trajectory. Written from a future-informed perspective, it identified weaknesses in current AI development and proposed long-term solutions. Publishing such predictions in an international journal could raise questions or even suspicion. Tony had already experienced the dangers of that in his last simulation.
He knew too well: science may have no borders, but scientists do.
Once the paper was submitted, Tony relaxed for the evening, browsing the web until the library closed.
As he walked back to the dormitory with Clara, she hesitated and then said, "I don't want to go to Northbridge Tech anymore. I want to apply to Titan University."
Tony turned to her, slightly surprised. "Why the sudden change?"
"Nothing really... I just want to try for a better school," Clara said, avoiding his eyes. Then, almost whispering, she added, "But I probably won't make it."
Tony saw through her hesitation. "You're thinking I'll be studying abroad, right? Harvard, Princeton, Oxbridge?"
She gave a small nod, half smiling, half disappointed.
Tony gently patted her head. "I'm not going abroad. Don't worry."
"Why not? Everyone says opportunities abroad are better. Even if you return afterward, your prospects and salary are supposed to be much higher," Clara said.
"It's not because of you, okay? Don't overthink it," Tony chuckled, though he was, in truth, making the decision because of what he'd experienced in his last simulation.
In that alternate life, he had been shot just before returning home after earning multiple doctorates overseas. The simulation ended in tragedy—"suicide by being shot in the back eight times," as the report said.
That absurdity was enough to convince him to stay local.
Clara didn't read too deeply into his reply, but his words did comfort her. Still, she felt a tinge of guilt.
Tony added, "There's still over a year until grad school. I don't have to worry about getting into a good program now, so you should just focus on yourself. The summer camp application for Northbridge Tech's Life Sciences program should be opening soon."