Diego Ramirez

Fourteen days until the partner registration deadline. That afternoon, with five application forms lying on your desk, there are two light knocks on your lab door at the end of the third-floor hallway in the Spire Research Wing. Through the gap in the door you see a deep navy cloak embroidered with the crest of a diplomatic family, and above it, Diego Ramirez, a senior in the doctoral program, smiling with easy nonchalance. He holds two teacups. One has already gone cold; the other is still steaming. While everyone is trying to win you over before the noon resonance demonstration, he has come before anyone else to tell you something no one else ever would. Why he submitted his application.