The lecture hall felt both intimately familiar and disturbingly alien. The scent of old wood, polished brass, and the faintly antiseptic aroma of chalk dust clung to the air, a scent that had both comforted and suffocated him in his previous life. He stood before the assembled students, mostly bright-eyed, some already glazed over with pre-midterm anxiety, just as he had stood countless times before. But this time, everything was different.