Chapter 13 - RecoveryThe disaster-recovery server sat beneath the university library in a climate-controlled room most students never knew existed.
Dean Bell personally authorized access.
Three IT specialists joined Leo and Professor Ward.
Every action was logged.
Nobody wanted another accusation of tampering.
The backup directory existed.
So did the session keys.
Leo stared at the screen.
“Start with Sofia.”
Why Sofia?
Because she had the most to lose.
Nobody said that aloud.
Her encrypted packets were combined with the recovered key.
File fragments appeared.
Personal statement.
Resume.
Recommendations.
Transcript.
Project portfolio.
At 9:12 a.m., the system produced a complete application package.
Timestamp:
11:58:43.
Seventy-seven seconds before the deadline.
Professor Ward laughed.
Marcus actually shouted.
Brooke called Sofia.
She arrived ten minutes later and burst into tears when she saw the recovered file.
Leo turned away slightly.
Not because he didn’t care.
Because he did.
Too much.
They worked for six hours.
Priya recovered.
Daniel recovered.
Brooke.
Marcus.
One after another.
Forty applications were complete.
Seven were more than ninety-five percent complete.
Three were missing small final sections, but logs showed their devices had transmitted the missing packets milliseconds before the node failed.
By four in the afternoon, all fifty could be verified as legitimately in progress before noon.
Camille Ross from Apex joined by video conference.
She reviewed the forensic process.
Then headquarters made its decision.
All fifty applications would be restored.
No penalty.
No special advantage.
Every candidate would be evaluated according to the original scoring model.
When Camille announced it, Engineering Auditorium 2 erupted.
Sofia hugged her parents.
Marcus climbed onto a chair.
Brooke cried openly.
Daniel called his older brother.
Even Professor Ward looked close to tears.
Leo sat near the aisle with his temporary crutches.
He smiled.
Quietly.
Brooke eventually found him.
“You did it.”
“We did it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You did.”
“Nolan told us where the keys were.”
“Because you forced the truth into the open.”
Leo looked across the room.
“Trent caused the outage.”
“And exposed the conspiracy.”
“Accidentally.”
“Still counts.”
Leo laughed.
Then Camille appeared at the auditorium doors.
The room quieted.
She carried another announcement.
“Apex is immediately suspending all recruiting relationships with the Westbridge Athletics Foundation pending investigation.”
Students applauded.
“And?”
Brooke sensed there was more.
Camille looked at Leo.
“Holloway Development’s merger negotiations have also been suspended.”
That news traveled through the room like electricity.
Everett’s deal was collapsing.
But Camille wasn’t finished.
“Apex legal counsel has referred evidence to federal authorities because the suspected conduct may involve computer fraud, wire fraud and interference with corporate recruitment.”
Dean Bell stood near the back.
Her phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Leo.
“It’s happening.”
“What?”
“Federal investigators are at the main gate.”
The cheering died.
This was no longer campus drama.
No longer student discipline.
No longer a viral video.
People with badges were entering Westbridge.
And while everyone celebrated the recovered applications, Leo felt uneasy.
Because Nolan Price still had not surrendered.
The person holding seven years of evidence remained somewhere outside campus.
If Everett knew that, he would be searching too.
Leo’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Nolan Price.
Standing beside a highway rest stop.
Timestamped eight minutes earlier.
Below it:
Tell Price to keep driving and his family stays out of this.
Leo immediately handed the phone to Dean Bell.
Her face hardened.
“Who sent this?”
“No idea.”
Then a second message.
You got the applications back. Stop now.
Leo stared at it.
For the first time, the threat did not sound like campus arrogance.
It sounded frightened.
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