Gemotions

The late afternoon sun warmed Elias’s face as he strolled across the quad. He’d just finished a particularly productive session in the lab, the data flowing seamlessly, the experiments yielding promising results. He’d even remembered to grab his favorite chai latte from the cafe before heading out. He’d been meaning to explore that new coffee shop across campus, but frankly, this day had gone too swimmingly to upset the rhythm.

He hummed a jaunty tune under his breath, kicking a pebble along the brick path. The air held a crispness, the kind that promised a perfect autumn evening. He glanced at his phone, a text from Professor Harding, his advisor. He grinned, ready to deflect the usual inquiries about the progress of his thesis. He was on track, ahead even.

The message, however, was brief: “Elias, can you come by my office? Urgent.” A chill, unrelated to the season, snaked through him.