Later that week Samantha's and Chloe's simple invitation to their dorm did not stay simple,nothing about this group ever stayed simple for long.
Late Friday evening, Samantha stood in the hallway outside her dorm room with Chloe beside her.
"You're sure about this?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.
Samantha crossed her arms.
"They're our friends. Why not?"
Chloe smirked.
"Oh I'm not worried about that."
She leaned closer and whispered.
"I'm worried about how shocked they're about to be."
Samantha sighed.
"You're enjoying this too much."
"Obviously."
Footsteps echoed down the hall.
Nathan, Alex, and Ariel approached.
Alex looked relaxed as usual, hands in his jacket pockets.
Nathan looked curious.
Ariel looked excited.
"You two called us like it was some secret meeting," Alex said. "Should we be concerned?"
Chloe grinned.
"Maybe."
Nathan frowned slightly.
"That doesn't make me feel better."
Samantha opened the door.
"Just come in."
The three of them stepped inside.
Then they froze.
Alex blinked.
Nathan stopped walking completely.
Ariel gasped.
The dorm room was nothing like a normal student dorm.
Half the space looked like a high-tech laboratory.
Metal work tables.
Advanced tools.
Prototype machines.
Circuit boards.
Mechanical arms.
Screens displaying blueprints and code.
Even a small hovering drone rested on a charging dock near the wall.
Nathan's eyes widened.
"…What?"
Chloe leaned against the door proudly.
"Welcome to our humble room."
Alex slowly turned in a circle.
"This is a lab."
"Pretty much," Samantha said casually.
Ariel walked toward one of the machines carefully.
"You built these?"
Chloe pointed to Samantha.
"She built most of them."
Nathan was already examining a device on the table.
He lifted it gently, studying the components with intense focus.
"…These parts are expensive."
Samantha shrugged.
Nathan continued analyzing the circuitry.
Then he looked up suddenly.
"You're using a triple-layer power regulator?"
Samantha blinked.
"…Yes."
Nathan tilted the device slightly.
"You're losing efficiency."
Chloe raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Nathan pointed at a small coil.
"If you reroute the current through this section instead, you'll get twice the output."
Samantha stared at him.
Silence filled the room.
Then she slowly took the device from him and inspected the part he pointed at.
Her eyes widened.
"…He's right."
Chloe looked between them.
"Wait… seriously?"
Samantha looked back at Nathan, now genuinely impressed.
"I spent three weeks trying to fix that problem."
Nathan shrugged awkwardly.
"It was obvious."
Alex burst out laughing.
"Of course it was."
Ariel looked at Nathan with shining eyes.
"You're amazing."
Nathan immediately looked uncomfortable.
"I'm not"
"Don't argue," Chloe interrupted. "You're a genius."
Nathan scratched the back of his head.
"…Thanks, I guess."
Alex walked toward one of the large screens.
Blueprints filled the display.
"Okay," he said slowly. "I officially have questions."
Samantha leaned back against the desk.
"My family owns a tech company."
Alex turned.
"What company?"
Chloe answered before Samantha could.
"Helios Industries."
Alex froze.
"…Wait."
Nathan looked confused.
"What's that?"
Alex ran a hand through his hair.
"That's one of the biggest tech companies in the world."
Samantha shrugged slightly.
"Yeah."
Nathan stared at her.
"So you're… rich."
Chloe burst out laughing.
"That's one way to say it."
Ariel looked around the room again, now realizing just how expensive everything was.
"This equipment alone must cost"
"Don't worry about it," Samantha said quickly.
Nathan set the device down carefully.
"You built all this yourself?"
"Mostly," Samantha said.
Nathan nodded slowly.
Respect appeared in his eyes.
"You're incredible."
For a brief moment, Samantha looked genuinely shy.
Chloe immediately noticed.
"Oh wow," she said dramatically. "She's blushing."
"I am not."
Alex suddenly clapped his hands.
"Alright! New plan."
Everyone looked at him.
"We're making another film."
Nathan groaned.
"No."
"Yes."
"This is not happening again."
Alex pointed at the machines.
"With technology like this? Are you kidding? This is cinematic gold."
Chloe grinned.
"I like this idea."
Ariel laughed.
"This could actually be fun."
Nathan sighed deeply.
"…I regret coming here."
Samantha smiled.
Too late.
The room soon filled with laughter and chaos again.
Alex experimented with lighting angles.
Chloe pretended to be an evil scientist.
Ariel tried to control the small drone but nearly crashed it into Nathan's head.
Nathan grabbed it mid-air.
"…Please stop touching things you don't understand."
Ariel laughed nervously.
"Sorry."
Samantha watched them all with quiet happiness.
It felt good.
Normal.
Warm.
For once, everything felt simple.
But then…
Nathan noticed something.
One of the monitors flickered.
Just for a second.
He glanced at it.
A distorted image appeared.
Like static.
Then it disappeared.
Nathan frowned.
"…Did anyone see that?"
Chloe looked over.
"See what?"
"The screen."
Samantha checked the monitor.
Everything looked normal.
"No glitch here."
Nathan stared at it a moment longer.
"…Weird."
Alex leaned over his shoulder.
"Relax, genius. Even machines get tired."
Nathan didn't look convinced.
But he said nothing.
Across the room, Chloe and Ariel stood near the table.
Both were watching Nathan.
Ariel smiled softly.
"He's really cool."
Chloe crossed her arms.
"…Yeah."
Ariel glanced at her.
"You like him too, don't you?"
Chloe blinked.
Then laughed.
"What? No."
Ariel smiled knowingly.
"You're a terrible liar."
Chloe narrowed her eyes.
"Well if I did like him…"
She leaned closer.
"I wouldn't give up easily."
Ariel's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Neither would I."
For a moment…
The air between them became tense.
Across the room, Nathan remained completely unaware.
Later that night, the group sat on the floor eating snacks and talking.
Alex was telling a ridiculous story about his childhood.
Everyone was laughing.
Even Nathan.
Samantha watched him.
The way he smiled.
The way he laughed quietly.
The way he relaxed around them.
She realized something.
Nathan wasn't mysterious anymore.
He was just…
Lonely.
And now he wasn't alone.
She liked that.
Far away…
In a room filled with cold blue light…
A screen displayed the exact same dorm room.
The same conversation.
The same laughter.
Every movement.
Every face.
Watched.
The mechanical bird perched beside the monitor.
Its glowing eyes recorded everything.
A man sat in the darkness behind the screens.
His face hidden.
Only his smile visible in the reflection.
"The prodigy…"
His voice was calm.
"And the inventor."
The screen zoomed slowly toward Nathan.
"Interesting."
Then it shifted to Samantha.
"And the heiress."
The smile widened.
"So many brilliant minds in one place."
He pressed a small button.
Across the screen…
Reality distorted.
Just slightly.
Like a ripple passing through glass.
"Let's see…"
His voice became colder.
"…how fragile your reality really is."
Back at the dorm room…
Nathan suddenly looked toward the window.
For a split second…
He thought he saw something move outside.
A reflection.
Watching.
Then it vanished.
Nathan frowned.
"…Strange."
But the others were still laughing.
Unaware.
And somewhere in the darkness…
A silhouette of masked man continued to observe them all and smiled to himself how interesting smiling mischievously In the shadows.