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“Hey Danny,” said Amanda, his lab partner for his astronomy class, “I’m all done with science for today. I can’t spend another moment looking at the blackness of space trying to locate these planets. We technically have reserved this lab till 9 and it’s 830 now. So, enjoy it. I’m heading out” she grabbed her bag and turned to head out of the lab without looking back.
It was Danny’s junior year of college. The University of Wisconsin was never his first choice. He absolutely wanted next to nothing to do with the university his parents and Vlad Masters went to. It kinda creeped him out to think of how the three of them probably hung out together on the weekends and did normal things. Back when his parents were not obsessive ghost hunters and before Vlad’s accident. But, due to both his parents going here he was able to not only get accepted into the school but he was also able to get a legacy scholarship. So the school he loathed soon became his only option if he wanted higher education. The school only offered an astronomy minor, within the department of physics. Danny decided to try physics, and it was not that bad. To everyone's surprise he added on a business minor seemingly at random at the end of his freshman year. He even made the Dean’s list his freshman year, given that all the classes had been in were basic classes and introduction science classes, it was an accomplishment he was proud of. He actually had time to study now since his parents and Valerie stayed in Amity Park to hunt ghosts. They promised that as soon as they or the town needed help, they would call him. His life was almost too simple here. Almost too normal here. There were almost no ghost attacks in Wisconsin, and it scared him.
Amanda, Recee, and Evan were assigned to be his lab partners for his Observational Astronomy class. Their assignment was to use the telescope to locate the coordinates of a few planets or moons in our solar system. They arrived here at the lab shortly before 6, Recee arriving with two large pizzas and a wide smile. They ate the pizza and joked around as a group before starting to look at the assignment. Evan left shortly after the pizza, since he had to pick up his kids. Recee left at 8 to head to his work. That had left him and Amanda and now that she left, he was totally alone.
Danny stood from the desk he was sitting at and walked over to the mount holding upright the large telescope. He quickly wiggled onto the black leather chair at the base of the telescope. The telescope was an older model, yet was way more complex than any backyard telescope he has seen. There were lots of buttons and knobs that he had no idea how to use. Maybe one day he can mess around and figure out the use for all the buttons. Maybe he will ask Professor Cooper if he could start his own research using the telescope.
Right now he had the telescope to himself and he could look at “Almost” anything. Sure there were some things that were not in his astrological field of view right now. He already looked at Saturn, the moon, Jupiter and most of the moons of Jupiter for their assignment. So he settled on a star cluster known as the Messier 13 or The Hercules Constellation Cluster. It was a cluster of about 300,000 stars near the galactic center of the Milky Way. Danny had seen this cluster once or twice before with his eyes on a dark perfect stargazing night, but all it seemed to him was a single speck of starlight among a sea of other starlights. But, to see it magnified with this advanced telescope was amazing.
As he zoomed in the telescope, he imagined that he was floating among the stars flying through space. Weaving in and out of constellations. He always imagined space to feel calming and peaceful. But, the few short times he had been up there he always felt like he was drowning in the vast ocean. He felt that, though, this star cluster might feel more welcoming, and warm.
“Hello Daniel,” came a voice from his left. In an instance, Danny was pulled out of space and back to earth, recognizing the voice but could not place whose voice it was. Something in his gut told him “danger” which for most people was a clue to turn and run away, but for Danny Phantom it was a clue to run towards the fight. He swallowed the feeling. His ghost sense had not gone off so it was not a ghost. Honestly, it was probably nothing then, just a response to being startled when he was deep in a daydream of space. He quickly shot a glance to his wrist watch, in neon green numbers it shot back, 9:15. He was supposed to have packed up and left already.
“Oh- I did not hear you come in, Professor Cooper. I’m sorry I stayed a bit too late, I just really like space.” He responded nonchalantly, turning the chair to face the man in the doorway. It was not his astrology teacher, Professor Cooper. Instead the man standing there was one of the professors in the School of Business'.
The man was in his late 50’s with a full head of gray silver hair, cut shorter on the back and longer in the front, most likely a comb over. He wore an intelligent pair of large glasses over his blue eyes. He also had a short scruffy beard trimmed neatly and professionally. Professor Edward Smith, a millionaire who thought his talents were more suited teaching the young about the ways of the world than the stock markets. That’s where he made his fortune after he hit the lottery about 6 years ago. Before that, he already had a degree in business and was working for a business firm in Nevada.
“Professor Smith, I’m sorry I thought you were my professor kicking me out.” He said with a chuckle, “what are you doing here?”
“No problem, Daniel” He smiled looking slightly off to his left in thought for a second before continuing, “I used to have that much passion. But I don’t find space as exciting as I once had. Frankly, the loneliness and emptiness is terrifying. To answer your question, I’m a professor and I have access to all the labs on campus, if I wish. And this is by far the most sophisticated one.”
“I never took you for a scientist,” Danny shot back defensively.
With a flick of his wrist the professor waved it off.
“A man can have many passions and talents. I’m sure you know that as much as anyone else. I am actually glad I ran into you. I have been meaning to ask you something?”
Danny paused. Why would this random professor want to talk to him? He was not his student. He had never been his student. Sure Danny had seen him around the business building. He even came in his “Principles of Marketing '' class at one point to be a guest speaker earlier this semester to talk about the wonders of wall street. Maybe that’s what Prof. Smith wanted to talk about?
“Sure. Fire away.” Danny said with a shrug.
“Why did you add on a business minor, you are majoring in Physics and already minoring in astrology?” Questioned Prof. Smith, raising one of his eyebrows.
“I just thought it would be nice to have. Make me stand out from the rest of the crowd of wide eye grand students wanting to work for NASA. And, who knows, maybe one day I’ll get interested in the stock markets, economy, and politics. Honestly, I took it for the strategy.”
“Strategy?” Prof. Smith responded with a slight turn of his head. A puzzled look on his face. He put his arms behind his back in a very distinct manner taking a few steps closer to Danny.
“Yeah. Game theory. It’s a very smart concept and it is interesting to me. Obviously, you already know the Prisoner Dilemma”
“Enlighten me” he said with a growing smirk, one that would make even the grinch jealous.
“Well let's say there are two prisoners, A and B. Both are arrested on a minor charge and put in isolation. The prosecutors suspect the two to have been accomplices on a larger crime all they need is a confession. They are both offered a deal, if none of them confesses they both get the minor charge. If A betrays B, then A gets the minor charge and B gets the major charge. But if they both betray each other they both get the major charge. Humans tend to save themselves and will likely work selfishly betraying each other in the process”
He responded with a praise like taunt, “ Oh- So you can learn something from me”
“Sorry?” Danny immediately retorted, slightly confused at what the professor had said.
“I said, so you can learn something” Prof. Smith said, shaking his head slightly in response.
“Is that all you wanted, Professor Smith?” mumbled Danny standing up and sliding out of the telescope’s chair. He grabbed his textbook and his homework and slipped them into his backpack. This guy was starting to creep him out just a little bit. He did not seem like a bad person, but he seemed to much lik-
“, Daniel, I was also wondering why you never took one of my classes?” interrogated Prof. Smith.
“It’s kinda personal,” Danny began, “My parents were old friends with a business man. He was smart, cunning and a little bit creepy. Scratch that, he was very creepy. He was a crazy old fruitloop. He knew how to push my buttons and liked doing so. You remind me too much of him.”
“Most people in the business world are like that,” retorted Prof. Smith, “You have to have a sense of finesse and self-preservation to survive in the shark eat shark world”
Professor Smith walked towards Danny, each one of his steps radiating intimidation. He stopped when he was just a foot away from Danny, making eye contact with him.
“You make it sound like it's the ghost zone!” Danny responded, his eyes narrowing, “that's a reference you probably would not get.”
“Ah- Daniel, all these kids today and their slang. How is an old man like me able to keep up?”
“There you did it again. He always called me Daniel.”
“It is your name, after all”
“Alright.” growled Danny. His patience wearing very thin, he took in a sharp breath to calm the growing anxiety and frustration. He had to calm down. He could not snap at this man. As much as Professor Smith irritated him, he was a human after all. Vlad was dead. Vlad was most definitely dead. No one had seen him for six years. He was dead or arrested, or both at this point. And right now, he just wanted to get away from this man without needing to use his powers. Thinking about it now, Danny wondered if annoying him into using his powers was Prof. Smith’s goal after all. Since the world found out about his superhero side, he had the occasional person fake an injury or ghost attack to get his attention or to get photos of him. He will not give Prof. Smith the satisfaction of even seeing him use his powers.
“If you will excuse me, I would like to be back to my dorm before my roommate gets off of work”, spat Danny, slipping his backpack over his right shoulder, turning away from Prof. Smith and walking around him.
“One more thing. I’ll be teaching a class this fall and I would like you to take it” he said, reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper and handing it to Danny.
“Business class?” Danny asked. Stopping in his tracks, he grabbed the flier aggressively and slowly began to unravel it.
“No special topics,” Responded Prof. Smith. The growing smile on his lips was venomous.
“Myths and Reality around the Paranormal.” Danny read out loud, each word sounding less confident then the last. He looked up at Prof. Smith with a puzzled and inquisitive expression. That was more than enough of a queue for Prof. Smith to continue talking.
“I was a paranormal studies minor back in the day when they still offered it. Hum… I wonder why they stopped the program in the first place. Anyway, it seems more than necessary now since the whole world knows ghosts are real. I am actually in talks with the school now about bringing back the minor and possibly a major, if there is enough interest” he paused looking down at the young man.
Danny did not know the university even offered paranormal studies as a minor. Did his parents have paranormal studies minors? And just how many people out there have one. Of those, how many are malicious condescending business men? No-This is just a perfect coincidence. And- it's Vlad's fault that the whole world knows ghosts are real. And, Vlad IS dead.
Danny felt Prof. Smith's eyes on him. He knew this guy could see every emotion, and the growing anxiety that was going through his head. As if he had enough, he interrupted Danny's thoughts.
“Take your time thinking about it. You have till April to sign up for classes. That's all. Goodnight” he said dismissively. Danny practically sprinted out of the room, barely able to hear the man add softly, “little badger”
As soon as Danny was sure he was away and out of earshot of the man, he swore.