Tony Snow planned for Helena Quinn and George Sharp to publish three articles in total; two of them would be individually authored by each of them, with their names appearing separately. The third article would be co-authored by both of them.
After Tony told President Howard Quinn and Dr. Victor Sharp about his arrangements for Helena and George, they continued to chat for a while, discussing academic matters. The discussion greatly benefited both administrators.
Finally, before Tony left the president's office, his application was approved, allowing him to apply for the patents in his own name.
By Tuesday, Tony had determined the type of patent he wanted to apply for, prepared the patent request, the abstract of the specification, and a series of other required documents, and successfully submitted the application.
After payment, he awaited the review. If it proceeded smoothly, the Patent Office would issue an authorization notice and instructions for registration procedures, after which Tony would only need to pay the necessary fees.
Soon, Tony's application was approved.
The cost of a patent application wasn't low: the base application fee was 900 credits, and the annual maintenance fee for the first three years was another 900 credits per year. However, Tony applied for a reduction, and after an 85% discount, the costs dropped to just 135 credits each for the application and yearly maintenance.
Additional fees included a substantive examination charge, publishing and printing fees, and the patent certificate stamp duty. Fortunately, Tony had saved up enough to cover everything.
...
By Wednesday, Tony successfully submitted his paper to Cell, one of the top three international journals in life sciences.
Cell, published by Cell Press, under the Elsevier Publishing Group, is globally recognized alongside Nature and Science as one of the most prestigious academic journals.
It must be said—conducting experiments had been exhausting.
After submitting his paper, Tony leaned back in a wooden chair in the campus library and sighed deeply.
Just as he was about to relax, his phone buzzed with a message from President Quinn. Tony unlocked it and saw a policy document just passed by the university's board the day before.
After reading it, Tony almost laughed—the policy seemed tailor-made for him. It rewarded students for publishing academic papers with both monetary and honorary benefits.
Tony wasn't interested in the titles or recognition. His eyes went straight to the financial incentives: for a top-level publication, he would receive a 10,000-credit reward.
"Looks like I missed out on that for my earlier AI paper..." he thought, remembering his computer science submission that hadn't yet been accepted.
The same policy soon appeared in the class's official message group, where the academic advisor encouraged students to participate in faculty research and strive to publish at least one paper before graduation.
There were two class group chats: one with faculty (dubbed the "official group") and one student-only (called the "underground group"). Today, even those who normally avoided the official group surfaced to comment with mock despair at missing out on the rewards.
...
On Thursday, Tony visited President Quinn again to discuss his plans to register a private biotech company and inquire about the university's entrepreneurship support policies.
"You're not going to pursue postgraduate studies anymore?" President Quinn asked, visibly concerned.
After their last meeting, he thought Tony was fully committed to academic research. The patent filings and company formation now made Tony seem distracted.
"Of course I am," Tony replied confidently. "Starting a company and doing research don't conflict. My focus will still be on scientific advancement. I'll let others handle management."
That reassured President Quinn, who then walked Tony through the university's support policies for student entrepreneurs.
By the time Tony returned to his dorm that evening, his mind was already organizing next steps.
The school offered subsidized entrepreneurship grants and helped fast-track loan applications. Tony could secure a 100,000-credit interest-free loan for three years and receive an additional cash subsidy from the university.
On Friday, Tony registered his company.
That same day, his long-awaited mathematics paper was officially published in Mathematical Advances.
As soon as the issue went live, word spread fast that the mystery third-year student who had authored the paper was none other than Tony Snow.
Within hours, Tony's name was trending across academic forums and social media platforms.
At his university, students were abuzz, especially his classmates and roommates, who proudly posted online that they'd known about it all along.
While Tony studied with Clara Quinn at the library, his phone buzzed nonstop with calls, texts, and emails—some from companies, some from other universities offering him opportunities, and others from old friends.
Eventually, he turned his phone off.
But the whispers around the library didn't stop. Curious students pointed, whispered, and a few even approached him for autographs or photos.
Luckily, it didn't get out of hand—at least not yet.