They made their way around the edge of the Bara Ballroom, past a second manned entrance and into the attached hall next to it. There, Kaitlyn found what she was looking for. A rear entrance.

"Here we go." With a smile, she gestured toward the door from across the hall. "See? No one's checking ID's here."

Philip looked at the entrance dubiously. "For good reason. This does not seem to be an intended entrance for students."

"Well, yeah, but it's still an entrance."

"Kaitlyn…" Philip pinched the bridge of his nose. "How exactly do you intend to argue that this is not sneaking inside deceitfully?"

"Well, I've definitely seen other students come in here. Like them." They watched as a pair of students in suits opened the door and slipped inside. "See? It's not even locked!"

"Just because it isn't locked doesn't mean it is an intended entrance."

"But it is a way that anyone can enter freely. And they could have locked it pretty easily, right?"

Philip fixed her with a cold glare. "This… I have not been invited to this event. Nor is it your place to invite me."

She let out a frustrated sigh. "I know. Look, if you really don't want to come, I understand. But… I just wanted to help."

As her shoulders slumped, Philip's gaze softened just the slightest bit. "I understand. However, you have already provided substantial help by granting me access to class resources. There is no need for you to do more."

"With how much you've done for me? Come on. Even if I don't need to… I want to." She looked Philip hard in the eye. "Besides. Classes are one thing, but this? This is actual help. Not just to help you learn, but get a better job, too. So of course I'm going to try harder."

She watched as the guy mulled her words over. Hopefully, they'd hit home. Even if she didn't know his situation exactly, he obviously could use a better job. And maybe this would be the foot in the door he needed.

Maybe he won't go for it. Maybe he's too much of a stickler for rules. But at least I tried.

Eventually, after what felt like ages, Philip finally nodded. "Alright."

"Alright?" Hope fluttered in her chest.

"...Yes," he nodded. "I will go. But if anyone asks about my student status, I will not lie to them and I will leave when asked."

Kaitlyn perked up and she beamed. "Of course! That's totally fine! Great, even!"

With feigned confidence, Kaitlyn walked up to the door. She actually was a bit self-conscious about sneaking in herself, but now was certainly not the time to admit that. Not with Philip already so skittish about the idea.

With one final look back at Philip, she smiled. "Ready?"

He stared for a long moment, then nodded slowly. Then, Kaitlyn led them inside.

***

As usual, the career fair had the Bara Ballroom bustling with activity. Even though they'd arrived early, the delay in getting inside had allowed for a larger crowd of students to trickle into the event. Luckily, they'd still managed to beat the worst of it – the real crowds would appear soon though, once the next round of classes let out.

The door let them out at the back corner of the room, between a pair of stands whose recruiters were busily conversing with applicants. Their entrance earned a couple of curious glances from passersby, but no one called them out for it. They stepped quickly into the stream of students before that changed.

Kaitlyn sighed with relief. "Well, here we are."

"Indeed." Philip nodded, his head swiveling about to take in the scene. "This is… quite impressive."

"Yeah, there's a lot of companies who come here," Kaitlyn agreed. "It's also pretty much all CS and tech companies, too. Er, from what I hear."

"Then I suppose I'd better get to work." The guy shrugged his backpack in front of himself and pulled out a folder. At Kaitlyn's curious glance, he explained. "My resumes. Just because software engineer positions hire based on merit doesn't mean I have failed to prepare resumes for this."

"Of course you did," Kaitlyn chuckled. "Lead the way."

With that, they set off. They made an initial circuit through the rows of colorful tables to get the lay of the land, then circled back to the most promising candidates. Kaitlyn let Philip take the lead, of course. He had a lot more stake in what they did here, and he took full advantage of the opportunity.

The guy bustled quickly from table to table as though he feared wasting even a second of precious time. As he spoke with the recruiters, Kaitlyn saw their usual polite demeanors morph into genuine interest. He even managed to pull a good number of the more experienced employees and engineers out of hiding, just like she'd managed with Theranuc.

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The sight made her smile. Hopefully this actually leads to something. Either way though, it just confirms what I already knew – Philip can blow these other guys out of the water. Just look at how eager they are to take his resume!

Kaitlyn enjoyed the spectacle as an onlooker, but paid attention to the companies Philip picked out. Even though she'd been here plenty of times, she'd never exactly taken an interest in the tech stands the way he did. It meant she was pretty out of the loop as to who was who.

Not like it really matters to me. I don't think I even could get hired at any of these places. She paused. Actually, could I? I mean, probably not. The whole interview and hiring process could take as long as the rest of the loop. But now that I know some programming, what if I actually have more job options open?

It was something to think about. She'd gotten used to Chella's being her only option across loops, but that was because her initial job search was based off of her skillset at the time. Now though? Now she had a lot more to come to the table with.

She tucked the idea away for later as Philip pointed out another table. "I'd like to approach that one, but the line is fairly significant."

Kaitlyn turned her attention to the booth in question. This one bore a white banner with "Gaggle" written across it in colorful letters. Judging by the crowd, it was quite the popular or prestigious company. But it didn't have nearly as long of a line as she'd recalled from previous loops.

"I think you should go now. That line won't get any shorter if you wait, so this might be your best shot."

"Hmm…" Philip frowned. "Are you interested in them? If not, I have no objections to passing in favor of another stand."

"Nah, go ahead!" Kaitlyn nudged the guy forward. "I have a bio stand I want to check out myself, actually. This'll give me some time for it."

"...Very well." Philip nodded. "I will find you after I'm finished here then. Perhaps we can plan to meet at the Nile stand?"

"Sounds like a plan. Good luck!"

She flashed her friend a smile as the pair separated. Then, she made a beeline for the Theranuc stand. But before she made it two steps, someone bumped into her.

"Oh! Sorry, I ah…"

Kaitlyn stumbled a bit before she caught herself. "Ah, that's ok. Sorry–"

Looking over at the offender, her eyes widened. "Oh! Hey, Ian!"

"Kay?" The guy blinked in surprise. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Uh, scoping out all of the companies?" Kaitlyn's eyebrow raised in amusement. "What else would I be doing?"

"Ah, yeah, dumb question…" Ian scratched his head nervously. "Sorry about that."

Whoops. Forgot how quickly he closes up outside of tournaments. "It's ok, I'm joking," she reassured the guy. "Are you looking for internships and stuff?"

"Yeah." Ian nodded and pulled at the neck of his light blue sweater. "Figured this would be a good place to start."

"Well, looks like you're right about that." Kaitlyn gestured to the crowds around them. "At least, everyone else seems to think so too."

"Yeah."

After a moment of awkward silence, Kaitlyn decided to extricate herself from the conversation. "Well, it's good to see you. You want to team again this weekend?"

The brown-haired boy perked up a bit. "Sure. If you're coming, I mean."

"Of course!" She shot him a thumbs up. "Someone has to keep you all honest. And wipe the floor with John's Squeegee, of course."

Ian chuckled a bit at that. "I think he might rig the bracket to keep that from happening again. You kind of traumatized him last time."

Kaitlyn's grin widened. "Eh, he deserved it."

With a final wave, she watched as Ian disappeared into the sea of students. Now that I think about it, this was a pretty popular place for encounters whenever I'd come. Everyone except for Vinny and Philip was here, after all. Though with me dragging Philip along, that means I've got four of the guys under the same roof.

The only other event close to this concentration of male leads was the post-championships party. That also had three guys – Elliot, Vinny, and Alex. It made her wonder if perhaps there were other events like this that she'd simply missed.

…It doesn't matter. She shook her head. I don't need everyone in the same place, anyway. Why would I?

Her eye caught a flash of red in the corner of her vision. A tall, bronze-skinned athlete wearing a well-tailored dress shirt meandered through the crowd, sticking out like a sore thumb.

…Time to go.

With a final shake of her head, she turned around and headed to Theranuc. Time to see what a few loops in lab had done for her biology chops.

***

"Well?" Kaitlyn asked as they left the career fair. "Any luck?"

"I believe so." Philip nodded. "A number of companies appeared eager to take my resumes, even for full time employment in the near future. A few rejected me out of hand, but I also saw many take special note of my information."

"That's awesome!" She beamed at the guy. "Seriously! Isn't that a big deal?"

"I will celebrate if anything comes of it." Philip's expression didn't change. "Even if some of these leads do bear fruit, I still need to prove my skills and worth in the interview process."

"Ok, yeah," Kaitlyn conceded, "but still. You got them to take you seriously."

"Indeed. I also have a better idea about what the job landscape looks like and what skillsets these companies are seeking. All of this information will help me to better optimize my future courses, if nothing else."

They headed back to the dorms at a slightly less brisk pace than before. Philip was parked near there, so they could make their way back together much of the way. He still walked more quickly than was comfortable, but no longer seemed as though he were outright running.

"...Thank you."

Kaitlyn looked at him in surprise "Huh?"

"Thank you, Kaitlyn." Philip's gray eyes met hers. "You didn't need to do this. In fact, you went above and beyond in granting me access to these opportunities. So… thank you."

Kaitlyn felt her cheeks warm a bit. It was the first time he'd ever thanked her for something. And… well, it felt nice.

Finally. Finally I did something for him in return. Sure, it's only for now… the thought made her smile falter. …But still. It's something. I have to take solace in that.

"Of course." Her smile softened as she straightened slightly. "Anytime, Philip."