The words VITA NOSTRA, or “our life,” come from an old Latin student anthem Gaudeamus: “Vita nostra brevis est, Brevi finietur” or “Our life is brief, It will shortly end…” The heroine of the novel has been forced into a seemingly inconceivable situation. Against her will, she must enter the Institute of Special Technologies. A slightest misstep or failure at school—and the students’ loved ones...