Madison swallowed hard, then turned to Miranda as if seeing her for the first time. “Mi–Miranda, there isn’t anyone else in our faculty with the same name as you, right?”
Sebastian’s mouth twitched. “Are you stupid?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “What do you know? I’m just making an educated guess! Gotta confirm it so we don’t get excited for nothing…”
Snapping out of her surprise, Miranda chuckled. “There shouldn’t be… right?”
“Ahhh! It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one who published it, right!” Madison jumped up like a spring.
“Oh my God! My classmate is a genius! My teammate is a superstar! Miranda, I’m putting my whole life in your hands, seriously!”
Sebastian sighed. “Just look at you… You seriously have no dignity."
Madison scoffed, “Oh, like you’re any better. Fine, don’t be in our group, then.”
Sebastian said nothing and turned to Miranda. “When did you submit to Science?”
Madison immediately pricked up her ears.
“Before the semester started,” Miranda replied.
“No wonder…”
But, before the semester? There was no project, no lab access, and… who was the corresponding author?
Up on stage, Jackson was beaming as he clapped. “Now, can we have Miranda Sutton come up and say a few words? Maybe share some of your experience?”
“Yes–come on stage–come on stage!”
The applause was thunderous. Even Joli couldn’t help but join in, clapping along.
Theodore, who was watching in astonishment, blurted, “Joli, you’re… not upset?”
For once, Joli’s face wasn’t expressionless. He smiled faintly. “There are many brilliant people in the world, countless geniuses.”
He paused. “Scientific research is not to be a solo effort.”
Flourishing research, after all, required many to bloom, though some still didn’t grasp that concept. Yasmine, who had first been stunned, then resentful, and finally irritated, was now staring at Miranda in complete disbelief. Her face shifted through a range of emotions like a painter’s palette.
Meanwhile, Sophie’s smile had disappeared, and her eyes were cold.
Miranda was nudged onto the stage. She didn’t have much to say, but she still spoke.
“Academic research is a long journey, and science is often a difficult road. Along the way, some may lose themselves, but only by staying true to your original intent can you see it through to the end. Thank you.”
Afterward, she gave a slight bow, and as she rose, she smiled directly at Sophie’s team. Her words couldn’t have been more pointed.
Sophie’s face froze. There was a flicker of guilt flashing across her eyes. Joli, on the other hand, looked on, his gaze deep and unreadable.
Suddenly, Yasmine stood up. “Mr. Heckle, I have a question.”
“Go ahead,” he said.
“We have only started class in less than two months. Out of nowhere, Miranda has published a paper in Science. Isn’t that a little strange?”
Everyone knew the prestige of Science wasn’t comparable to a typical SCI paper. The difficulty level was leagues apart.
Just look at the acceptance rate. Science published around 20 papers per week, but due to limited space, many high–quality papers were rejected before even being peer–reviewed.
Every year, about 7,000 papers were submitted to Science, but only 15% got accepted. Of those, 70% come from Malca, with the rest from Arup and Alanda.
Even though Miranda’s paper was a Compass and not a full research paper, the acceptance rate wasn’t much different. Many scientists spend at least a year preparing for a Science publication, with opening discussions, experimental proof, and conclusion analyses.
Even then, they still might get rejected.
How could Miranda have accomplished in two months what takes others years or even decades to achieve?
That was unless…
Yasmine declared, “She cheated!”