Ole Miss It Help Desk [exclusive] -

"Where in Bishop Hall?" he asked.

The clock stopped. For one perfect second, the world held its breath.

Jordan walked back across the silent campus, the humidity clinging to his skin. When he reached the IT desk, the clock on his computer read 2:01 AM. The same minute he’d left.

Then it began ticking forward. Normal. Steady.

He never remembered Bishop Hall. But sometimes, when the servers hummed just right, he felt something warm behind his eyes. A memory that wasn’t his. A clock. A woman. And the quiet, eternal duty of keeping Ole Miss exactly where it was supposed to be.

Jordan didn’t ask who built it. He took out his screwdriver—the old one—and carefully, gently, nudged the gear back into place.

"Before the land was Mississippi," she said. "Before it was Chickasaw. This place has always been a crossroads. The university was built to guard it."