The Bara Ballroom buzzed with activity as Kaitlyn stepped inside. Her ruffled white blouse and black slacks fit in perfectly among the other formally dressed students as they streamed through the auditorium. But for once, she didn't just look like she belonged. She felt like it.

This time, she was here for business.

Her strides carried her between the colorful tables and booths, taking each in with interest. She knew fully well that most of these places were advertising internships for summer or careers after graduation. So getting a part time job might be a longshot, especially as a first year college student. But it wasn't impossible.

I've actually got skills now. Which means I might be able to use them. She scanned a collection of tech-related tables. It's ok if I'm not the best. I don't really expect to get any hits on my first try. But if I keep going down the CS path, I'm sure I'll be able to get something.

While bio was her specialty, there didn't seem to be too many real job opportunities advertising here. She'd obviously considered Theranuc, but their building was way further away than she could reasonably travel to. It was a frustratingly common issue. But with CS, a field that largely involved working on the computer? She might be able to swing some sort of distance work arrangement, especially with her student status.

But for now, her goal was just to make a list of options. Places that seemed interesting, had available positions, and might be willing to hire her. And so, she got started.

Kaitlyn meandered from table to table, chatting with recruiters as she went. She'd never paid too much attention to the actual tech stands, but she did remember which ones Philip had picked to approach. Those seemed like as good of a place to start as any. If there was anyone who'd be an expert on this stuff, it was him.

But those weren't the only places she went. Kaitlyn made sure to approach a variety of other stands, even some that didn't particularly interest her. And after half a dozen conversations, she learned quite a bit.

First thing's first – I'm actually in a good spot, experience-wise. I'm not the most qualified, but I'm not the bottom of the barrel either. So that's good news.

Many of the recruiters were already surprised at her first year status. All it would take was a few more classes under her belt to really blow the other applicants out of the water.

The bad news is, I'm not getting any hits right now. Not any promising ones, at least.

As she'd expected, this job fair was meant for a different kind of crowd – those seeking internships or post-graduation jobs. But that didn't mean all hope was lost.

I'll have to look at job postings online, too. That should give me even more info. Maybe I could even do some independent stuff for people… Freelance programming is a thing, right? It has to be.

Of course, the whole idea assumed that the game wouldn't punish her for such actions, which wasn't guaranteed at all. But she had a hunch that it would work. At the very least, this seemed far less egregious than her stock trading strategy from so long ago.

I'm not "cheating" my way to money like this. I'm actually earning it through my own hard work. Just like with Kate's Kitchen. So maybe it'll be ok.

As she thanked another recruiter – a bubbly woman working for Orange – Kaitlyn's eye caught a flash in the crowd. There, a few booths down, a familiar head of reddish-orange hair stood out among the rest of the students.

She blinked. Right! Elliot's here. I almost forgot.

Ian and Alex were here too, of course. She'd already said hi to Ian near the Gigaware stand as usual, though she'd left Alex alone. But Elliot?

…Wait a second. She frowned, trawling through her memory. Have I ever come to this career fair during a loop when we knew each other?

Shockingly, she realized the answer was no. There had never been a loop where she'd attended the career fair and also been part of Professor Adams's lab. But in hindsight, it had made total sense. Talking to Theranuc was way less useful than actually running her own experiments. She'd pretty much outgrown those initial conversations and replaced them with far more practical experience. In the process, she'd forgotten about the event as a possible encounter.

The realization made her scratch her head. Wow. Well, to be fair, I was pretty much avoiding ending stuff before this. But that's a pretty big oversight.

Of course, she'd also started moving away from thinking of events as "encounters." But if she was going to actually do something about these other endings, she wouldn't be able to stay away from that mindset entirely. Even if it had worked with Philip.

Regardless of whether or not she'd planned it, the fact remained: both of them were here now. So before she could lose the ginger again, Kaitlyn began weaving through the crowd of students. Thankfully, she'd already visited most of the companies she wanted to. The only ones left were the massive ones with huge lines and her good old friends at Theranuc.

"Elliot!"

The ginger looked over his shoulder, emerald eyes scanning the crowd until they fell on Kaitlyn's waving form. "Hey, Kate. Fancy meeting you here."

"Same to you." She looked over Elliot's outfit – a fitted white dress shirt and black slacks paired with a brown belt and boots. Against that backdrop, his hair and eyes seemed even more vibrant. "Did you just get here?"

"Mmm, pretty much." He adjusted the backpack on his shoulder. "I just got out of class a few minutes ago. You seem like you've been here for a while though."

Elliot shot a pointed look toward Kaitlyn's own backpack. It was practically bursting at the seams with free t-shirts, water bottles, stickers, and other swag that had been foisted upon her.

"Yeah…" She admitted. "I got here pretty early. It was worth it, though."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"It seems like it," Elliot chuckled. "Did you see any particularly interesting bio companies?"

"A few? There aren't too many options here… Are you looking for something specific?"

He shrugged. "Yes and no. I'm looking for agriculture and biotech jobs, primarily."

"Oh! There's a couple like that. They're…" She stood on her toes to see over the crowd. "Back that way. I haven't really talked to the agriculture ones, but I know they're right next to each other. And Theranuc's got these neat pipette pens for swag."

"I see." Elliot gave her a nod of thanks. "I appreciate it. I'll head over."

"Actually…" Before he turned away, Kaitlyn interrupted. "Mind if I come with you? I was just about to head that way."

"You were?" He raised an eyebrow. "I assumed you had already visited those stands. Especially if you know what their freebies are."

Kaitlyn hesitated, then decided to be honest. "I… didn't actually talk to them. To be honest, I was looking for more CS stuff."

"CS?" Elliot cocked his head. "Aren't you a bio major as well?"

"Yeah, but… I also like CS So I figured I might as well look into it."

He gave her an evaluating look, then seemed to leave it alone. "Fair enough. Don't tell Esme, though. She'll think you're even more of an overachiever."

"Oh! Where is Esme, by the way?" Kaitlyn glanced around for the girl. "She didn't come with you?"

The ginger shrugged. "She's in class. She'll swing by later."

Oh. That makes sense. Kaitlyn nodded. Over the past weeks, it had begun to feel like the pair were attached at the hip. Whenever Kaitlyn invited Elliot to lunch, he made it a point to bring Esme along as well. She didn't mind of course, but still. It was interesting.

The pair began navigating through the fair, heading towards Theranuc's stand. Kaitlyn led the way, since she knew where they were going. In a moment, they emerged from the mass of humanity to find the blue-green stand and its two occupants.

"Hello!" Ray stepped forward, his face amicable and polite as they approached. "I'm Ray, nice to meet you."

"Kaitlyn," she introduced herself, shaking the man's hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"Elliot."

"Wonderful. What majors are you?"

"Biology, both of us."

"Ah, seems like you're in the right place then!" Ray grinned. "Have you heard of Theranuc before?"

"I have, but…" Kaitlyn glanced over at Elliot.

"...I'm not familiar," the ginger finished. "Based on the sign though, I'd assume you're in the therapeutics business?"

"That's right!" Ray confirmed. "RNA therapeutics, in particular…"

The man began his pitch, summarizing the company's work in a few boilerplate lines. In the meantime, Kaitlyn's gaze wandered toward the booth's other occupant: Niel, the actual scientist of the pair.

It's been a while since we've talked. I'm pretty sure I've exhausted all of the conversation topics about RNAi and Theranuc's stuff… though I do have a lot more lab experience now. Maybe I could still learn something from him?

"...Sounds interesting," Elliot said after Ray finished speaking. "Are you more in the research business, trying to make a product? Or are you involved in healthcare itself?"

"Right now, we're very research-based." Ray explained. "That's why we're looking for more hands in the lab. But we work closely with healthcare professionals to identify the most promising targets to work on next."

"Interesting. Thanks for the info." Elliot said.

"Of course! Do you have any other questions for me?" Ray glanced between the pair.

Kaitlyn considered that for a moment. …No. I think I'm ok. I could ask some more technical questions about assay details and whatnot, but that might be stuff Niel can't talk about . And if I did start talking to him, I don't know how long I'd be. I don't want to make Elliot wait through that.

"...I'm alright." Kaitlyn finally decided. "Thank you, though."

"Of course!" Ray gave them both a winning smile. "If you have resumes, I'd be happy to take them. Like I said, we're always happy to take on interns. And make sure to grab a pen!"

The pair did as he'd suggested, handing over printed-out copies of their resumes. Given Kaitlyn's mission, she'd prepared plenty in advance, and Elliot evidently hadn't slacked either. As they handed the papers over though, Ray's eyebrows shot up. "That's a unique last name. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any relation to…?"

Kaitlyn looked up from the pens to find Ray eying Elliot curiously. She turned her attention toward the guy, his face smooth and impassive.

To who?

"Yeah," Elliot twirled his new pipette pen between his fingers. "We're related."

"Ah!" Ray's face brightened. "Well, especially nice to meet you then!"

"You too. Have a great day."

With that, he turned and left. Kaitlyn stared after him, frozen in surprise and confusion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ray place Elliot's resume atop a separate, smaller stack of paper on the desk. But after a moment, she hurried after him, mind racing.

"Wait up, Elliot!"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Something wrong?"

Of course there is! She wanted to blurt out. What was that all about?

It was an obvious question to ask. But between the look on his face and Elliot's casual dismissal of the man's question, she suspected she might not get an answer herself, either.

…Well. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try.

"What was he talking about?" Kaitlyn pressed. "I mean, you don't have to answer, but… does he know your dad?"

Elliot grimaced. "Not exactly," he clarified. "He knows of him though."

"But why?"

The ginger stopped walking, his eyes meeting Kaitlyn's for a long moment. Then, he let out a long sigh and hung his head. "Well, cat's out of the bag anyway, I suppose…"

Straightening, he crossed his arms as though bracing himself. "My last name is Ambrose."

Kaitlyn stared at him, waiting for more. When it became clear that Elliot was done speaking, she frowned. "...Ok?"

Now it was Elliot's turn to stare. "As in, Glen Ambrose?"

At Kaitlyn's continued lack of comprehension, he blinked in surprise. "You… you really don't know who I'm talking about, do you?"

"Should I?" Kaitlyn spread her hands in a helpless gesture. "I mean, is he some sort of biotech guy? I'm kind of new to bio, so…"

At that, Elliot bust out laughing. He doubled over, his face splitting into a broad smile. The sudden outburst drew glances from all around as other students gave them a slightly wider berth.

Ok, seriously. What is going on here?!

"Ah… sorry." Elliot eventually straightened, wiping a tear from his eye. "That's just… unexpected. In a good way. It's been a while."

"Why?" Kaitlyn pressed. At this point, she was getting a little frustrated. "What, is your dad some kind of king?"

"Ah, I'm sure you'll look it up later." Elliot's expression took on a tinge of sadness at the words. "For now, though, let's go head to some of the other booths."

As they headed deeper into the career fair, Kaitlyn continued pestering her labmate with questions for a while longer. Elliot would simply shake his head in amusement or give her a vague non-answer, which frustrated her further.

"This never happens to me. Let me enjoy it for a little longer."

That shut Kaitlyn up. But even as they continued browsing through the fair, the nagging thought continued to eat away at her.

Who the heck is this guy?