And, just like that, Jon secures backing for a grant!

Jon zipped his pants and adjusted his lab coat, breathing deeply as he stood and looked down at Simone. She was kneeling still, reorganizing the scattered pages of her printout with calm efficiency, her bust subtly straining against the front of her blouse, not a hair out of place. She tucked one page into a folder, then gave a light, content sigh—seemingly proud of her “multitasking.”

Simone, not rising yet, scanned her notes. “You know, I think once you have a draft cleaned up, you’ll be in a strong position for internal grant support. You’ll want to submit it to the Strategic Research Committee.”

Jon nodded, watching her carefully. “You think I’d have backing?”

“From me? Absolutely,” she said, voice cool and composed, even as she brushed at a faint smear on her lip. “I’ll write a recommendation letter. You’re overdue for a funding increase.”

She finally stood, her movements fluid, smoothing her skirt back over her hips. She looked completely poised, every bit the brilliant, curvaceous professor… and totally unaware of what had just occurred. She picked up her coffee again, taking a thoughtful sip.

Jon smirked faintly. “Well, that’s generous of you, Simone.”

She raised a brow at him, then smiled gently - professional, polite, still entirely composed. “Don’t thank me yet. Submit clean work, and I’ll get you in front of the review board. If your results are as promising as I suspect, you won’t have trouble locking it in.”

Jon slipped his hands into his pockets. “They’ll be more than promising.”

“Good.” She turned to the door. “You should have the paperwork to my inbox by end of day. No more late submissions, understood?”

“Understood.”

With that, she clicked away down the hallway, hips swaying, heels echoing softly, leaving Jon alone in the faculty lounge with nothing but the memory of the world’s most surreal departmental review.

He took a breath, then tapped the RAC once to check the logs.

[ALTERATION: Stable.]
[Perception History: Integrated - Behavioral Consistency Maintained.]

Jon chuckled to himself, slipping the device back into his coat pocket. “Simone Maddox. Official reference provider… and entirely oblivious fantasy.”