maetavlor
Alternate Universe!
At Stanford, ambition is practically a prerequisite. Everyone is building something: careers, reputations, futures that stretch far beyond the sandstone arches of campus.
Ophelia spends most of her time staring at MRI scans of the human brain, chasing patterns that might explain how people think, decide, and sometimes obsess. As a 5th year graduate student hoping to break into consulting, she's learned to balance research, networking, and the strange collection of classes that might make her just useful enough to the right people.
Around her, other brilliant minds are doing the same. At her side, a relentless MD-PhD scientist determined to build a lab of his own. Somewhere across campus, a newly hired law professor whose work in biotech patents has earned him a reputation well beyond the law school. At the business school, a consulting club president who treats career preparation like a competitive sport. All of them are chasing something just out of reach.
Together, they're about to discover that brilliance has its own kind of gravity, one that pulls people toward obsession, rivalry, and something dangerously close to love.