dorsing him. I'm going to HR. I have the code repository, every c

ly cracked. A flicker of i

than. You'll just mak

the silence of our apartment, the ghost of her

e I'd do it. She

, I saw Leo holding court, laughing with a group of engineers. They glanced at me,

Marcus Vance. I laid out my case calmly, lo

ion, steepled his fingers, and l

he said, his tone dripping with corporate non-commitment.

ded in my inbox. It was an offi

ulations to the

eart pounding. There it

hitect:

anager: C

ding titled "Additional Contributors," was a list of over twenty names. Mine was buried in the middle,

ow officially worthle

hispers turned i

rilliant intern," one of the senior engineers said a

. These were people I had helped, people whose techni

stayed in my cubicle, the glow

ts fueled by cold pizza and energy drinks. The social events I missed. The moments with Chloe I'd sacrificed, telli

phantic kid who spent more time networking t

ical weight, pressing down on m

s game in the office, I would take it public.

e very foundations of this world. But I had made a promise to myself. I would succeed on my own merit, or n

ded to keep