Chapter 7 - The Apex RuleThe next morning, Apex Global’s regional recruitment director arrived on campus.
Her name was Camille Ross.
She was forty-one, precise and visibly furious.
She met Leo, Professor Ward, Dean Bell and several affected students inside the administration building.
“I want to make one thing clear,” Camille began. “Apex had no knowledge of what occurred.”
Brooke crossed her arms.
“Then reopen the portal.”
“I’m trying.”
“Trying doesn’t pay student loans.”
Dean Bell gave Brooke a warning look.
Camille surprised them by nodding.
“She’s right.”
That softened the room slightly.
Camille opened a presentation.
Apex received tens of thousands of applications annually.
To prevent universities with huge applicant pools from dominating the process, the company used a geographic and institutional weighting model.
Westbridge applicants were ranked partly against one another.
Not exactly a quota.
But close enough.
“If fifty highly competitive applicants disappeared,” Leo said, “other Westbridge candidates would rise.”
Camille nodded.
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Potentially significantly.”
She showed the rankings before the deadline.
Names were anonymized.
Several of the fifty affected students had preliminary scores in the top ten percent.
Sofia.
Priya.
Daniel.
Brooke.
Marcus.
All removed when their applications failed.
Ethan’s preliminary ranking jumped from seventy-third to thirty-first.
Another football player moved from eighty-two to forty.
A third moved from ninety-one to forty-seven.
Camille looked at Dean Bell.
“This pattern would have been flagged eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“After interviews.”
Brooke whispered, “Meaning they could have gotten the jobs first.”
Camille didn’t deny it.
Leo asked, “Can you accept our cached data?”
“If we can verify it existed before noon.”
“We can.”
“Then I will personally request an exception from headquarters.”
Marcus exhaled.
“So we’re saved?”
Camille’s expression warned him not to celebrate.
“I said request.”
Apex headquarters was famously strict.
Deadlines were part of their recruitment integrity standards.
Opening a portal after closure risked accusations of favoritism.
Ironically, the company’s anti-favoritism rules might now punish students who had been victims of favoritism.
Leo found that almost funny.
Almost.
Camille then placed another document on the screen.
“One more issue.”
It was an email.
Sent three weeks earlier.
From Graham Pike.
To an Apex recruiting manager.
I have several Westbridge athletes worth special attention. As discussed, the weaker technical candidates should wash out naturally before final review.
Dean Bell stared at the message.
Camille continued.
“Our employee responded that all candidates would be processed equally.”
“Then why does this matter?” Professor Ward asked.
“Because Graham replied.”
Next email:
Understood. We’ll handle the Westbridge side.
Silence.
Brooke whispered, “That sounds like a confession.”
“Not by itself,” Leo said.
Camille looked at him.
“No. But combined with yesterday…”
Her phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Then looked at the room.
“My headquarters just approved a temporary evidence-review process.”
Sofia stood immediately.
“What does that mean?”
“It means if Westbridge can prove your applications were complete or substantially complete before noon, Apex will consider restoring them.”
The room erupted.
Not celebration.
Relief.
Some students cried.
Marcus hugged Daniel.
Brooke sat down hard.
Leo remained still.
Camille noticed.
“You don’t look happy.”
“I am.”
“But?”
Leo looked at the anonymized ranking chart.
“If their plan was just to improve three football players’ chances, why sabotage fifty people in one hallway?”
“Because that hallway had many Apex applicants.”
“Exactly.”
He pointed at the data.
“Why?”
North Academic Hall primarily contained engineering, economics and computer science departments.
The highest-scoring applicants were concentrated there.
Someone had selected the building carefully.
Camille understood.
“They knew applicant locations.”
“Yes.”
“Could they?”
“Not from ordinary recruiting information.”
Dean Bell’s expression darkened.
“But the university could.”
Leo nodded.
Someone had accessed campus Wi-Fi association data to determine which applicants were physically located in North Hall.
That required serious permissions.
Graham Pike might manipulate athletics.
Coach Voss might influence players.
But neither should have access to live network location records.
Professor Ward whispered, “There’s someone else.”
Leo nodded.
“Someone in IT.”
Camille closed her laptop.
“Then find them.”
Leo almost laughed.
“My admin privileges are suspended because they framed me.”
Dean Bell looked at him.
Then removed her phone.
She called university IT.
“Restore Leo Mercer’s investigative access.”
Professor Ward raised an eyebrow.
Dean Bell continued.
“Read-only. Logged. Supervised.”
She ended the call.
“You wanted access.”
Leo looked at her.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if you find what I think you’re going to find, this university is about to have the worst week in its history.”
Leo opened his laptop.
“No offense, Dean.”
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