Xavier picked up his phone and called the security contact.

It picked up on the second ring.

"You’ve heard," the voice said.

"Patricia called," Xavier said. "I need one more thing from you."

"What kind."

"Femi Adebayo," Xavier said. "I want to know where he lands after this. Not immediately. Over the next month. Where he goes, what he does, whether he tries to rebuild anything connected to Riverside."

"Okay I’ll keep Monitoring," the voice said.

"Yes," Xavier said. "Nothing active. Just watching."

"Consider it done," the voice said.

Xavier hung up and made one more call.

Amira picked up on the third ring.

"Have you seen the university notice board this morning," he asked.

A pause. "No I just woke up why."

"Check it," he said. "Then call me back."

He put the phone down and waited.

She called back in four minutes.

"Xavier." Her voice was different. Quieter than usual. "The complaint. It’s been expunged. There’s a written apology in my academic file."

"I know," he said.

"Ashworth is gone," she said.

"I know."

"Xavier, how long have you been working on this?"

"Since the night I saw you cry," he said.

Amira went quiet.

Not the usual processing quiet. Something stiller than that.

"You saw that," she said.

"Yes," he replied.

"I didn’t know anyone saw that," she said quietly.

"I know," he said.

Another silence. Different from the ones before it.

"You’ve been working on this since then," she said slowly. "Since that night."

"Yes," he said.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment.

When she spoke again her voice was different. Quieter. More certain underneath it.

"Xavier," she said.

"Amira."

"That’s..." she stopped. Started again. "Nobody has ever...." she stopped again.

"I know," he said.

"Stop knowing things before I say them," she said. But there was no edge in it.

"I’ll try," he replied.

She let out a breath.

Silence.

"Xavier," she said.

"Amira..."

"You terrify me," she said. "I’ve said that before but I mean it differently now."

"How differently," he said.

A pause.

"Before it was because you were unpredictable," she said. "Now it’s because you’re completely predictable once you’ve decided something." She paused. "You decided Ashworth was a problem. And then you just.. solved him. Like an equation."

Like an equation, Xavier thought. That’s accurate actually.

"Are you okay," he said.

"Yes," she said. "More than okay." A pause. "Xavier the written apology goes in my academic file. That’s... that’s not nothing. That follows me."

"I know," he said. "That’s why it matters."

The silence that followed was the particular kind that came when someone was feeling something they hadn’t found words for yet.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For real this time. Not the kind I say automatically."

"I know the difference," he said.

"I know you do," she said.

He checked the gauge after they hung up.

Amira — 97%

One percent, he thought. One point from Maximum Bond.

He spent the morning on campus.

The atmosphere was different.

Not dramatically. Just a subtle shift in the air the way institutions shift when something significant has happened within them. Clusters of students near notice boards. Conversations that paused when certain names came up. The particular energy of a community processing an unexpected change in its landscape.

Xavier moved through it at his usual pace.

He bought a coffee at the cafeteria. Checked his messages. Reviewed the phase 3 report one final time and closed it permanently.

Done, he thought. That file is closed.

He was crossing the courtyard toward the Food and Nutrition block when Kelvin appeared.

"Bro," Kelvin said, falling into step beside him with the energy of someone who had been waiting for this conversation all morning.

"Kelvin," Xavier said.

"Ashworth," Kelvin said.

"Yes."

"Permanently removed."

"Yes."

"Criminal investigation."

"Yes."

Kelvin was quiet for exactly three seconds which was a personal record.

"Xavier," he said.

"Kelvin."

"Did you have anything to do with this."

Xavier looked at him sideways. "I’m just a first year Food and Nutrition student."

Kelvin stared at him. "That is the least convincing thing you have ever said."

"Go to your lecture Kelvin," Xavier said.

"I don’t have a lecture until eleven.."

"Go anyway," Xavier said.

Kelvin opened his mouth. Closed it. Pointed at Xavier once with the energy of a man who had made a decision to let something go for now.

Then walked away.

Xavier almost smiled and kept walking.

He found a quiet bench near the east wall at lunch and pulled up his phone.

Two things needed handling this afternoon.

First His balance. He’d crossed $300,000 but the requirements for completing his main quest were still sitting at the back of his system interface hidden like an incomplete equation. He pulled them up now.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Main quest checklists

1. Net worth exceeding $500,000 ✗

2. Minimum two active bound targets ✓

3. Complete a single transaction exceeding $100,000 ✗

Three requirements, he noted. Two met. One pending. He looked at requirement three. Single transaction exceeding $100,000.

That’s the one I haven’t done yet.

He thought about it.

$100,000 in a single spend, he thought. At Tier 2 that returns $200,000. Net positive $100,000 from one transaction. He looked at his balance. $304,450. I can do this today.

But what do I spend $100,000 on that makes sense.

He thought about Sarah’s EP.

The studio package was $15,000, he noted. Good. But not enough.

He thought about Amira’s research phase two.

The Kenvale General partnership, he thought. If it gets approved she’ll need proper research funding beyond the board grant. Lab equipment. Research staff. Data collection infrastructure. He pulled up his phone. That’s a $100,000 problem easily.

Two birds, he thought. One stone.

He called Patricia.

"Different matter," he said when she answered. "I need to establish a research funding trust. Named. Not anonymous this time. $100,000 initial endowment. Beneficiary — Amira Hassan, Riverside University Food and Nutrition Department, for the purpose of the Kenvale General Hospital nutrition partnership research program."

Silence on the line.

"A research trust," Patricia said carefully.

"Yes," Xavier said. "Today if possible."

"Xavier that’s..." a pause. "That’s not a simple filing. That’s a formal legal instrument."

"I know," Xavier said. "That’s why I’m calling you."

A longer pause.

"Give me three hours," she said.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $100,000 — Research Trust Endowment

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $200,000

[ Net Balance: $204,450.00 → $404,450.00 ]

[ SIDE QUEST COMPLETE ]

First Major Endowment

Reward: +2,000 EXP

[ EXP: 17,250/50,000 ]

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