Chapter 8: The Photograph

I couldn't stop thinking about the photograph from the video.

The woman standing beside that research team was undeniably me. Older, more confident, and wearing a badge I couldn't read clearly.

But there was something else in the photograph that bothered me.

In the corner was a familiar logo.

I had seen it before.

It belonged to the aerospace laboratory where our university's most advanced research projects were conducted.

The next morning, I went to the library and searched through every public document I could find about the laboratory.

Most of the information was ordinary. Research papers, faculty profiles, project announcements.

Then I found a name that made my heart skip.

Professor Adrian Cole.

He was the director of the propulsion research program.

According to his profile, he had mentored several students who later joined major aerospace companies and government research facilities.

I immediately searched for his office hours.

Two hours later, I was standing outside his office with a folder of my project work in my hands.

I knocked.

"Come in."

Professor Cole looked up from his computer.

"Sonia, right? From the first-year propulsion project?"

"Yes, sir."

He motioned for me to sit.

"What can I do for you?"

I placed my project report on his desk.

"I'd like to apply for the research assistant program."

He glanced at the report and then looked back at me.

"You understand that most students don't apply this early?"

"I understand."

"And you still want to try?"

"Yes."

He studied me for several seconds.

"Why aerospace engineering?"

I hesitated.

There were a hundred answers I could have given him.

Instead, I gave him the simplest one.

"Because I don't want to spend my life wondering what I could have done."

Something changed in his expression.

He opened my report and began reading.

I sat quietly while he turned page after page.

Finally, he closed the folder.

"Your work isn't perfect."

My heart sank.

"But you know what your biggest advantage is?"

I shook my head.

"You aren't afraid of being told you're wrong."

He smiled faintly.

"Come back next Monday. I'll give you a trial assignment."

I nearly forgot how to breathe.

"Thank you, Professor."

When I walked out of his office, I couldn't stop smiling.

For the first time, I felt like I was standing on the path from the photograph.

That evening, I received an email from Silas.

He had somehow found my university email address.

The subject line read: "Can We Talk?"

I almost deleted it.

Instead, curiosity got the better of me.

His message was longer than I expected.

"Sonia, I know you're angry, but I want you to understand something. Rachel never wanted to hurt you. She was insecure about our friendship, and I thought changing your application would solve everything. I never imagined you'd actually get into Defense Technology Institute."

I read the message twice.

Then I laughed.

He never imagined I'd get in.

That sentence told me everything I needed to know.

To him, my success had always been an inconvenience.

I typed a reply.

"You don't need to understand my choices anymore, Silas. They're mine."

I pressed send.

A few seconds later, the typing indicator appeared.

I blocked him before another message could arrive.

The next Monday, Professor Cole handed me a stack of technical documents.

"If you can understand these by Friday, we'll talk about giving you a permanent position."

I looked at the papers.

They were difficult.

Very difficult.

But I smiled.

"I'll be back Friday."

That night, I studied until three in the morning.

I didn't know whether I'd eventually become the woman in that photograph.

But for the first time, I wasn't waiting for the future to happen to me.

I was building it myself.