sed for my personal projects. He was holding a cup of coffee

hesitant. "About the last few days... I

ing up from the microscope. "You sol

e on my desk. "I'm thinking of bringing her on as a permanen

You two work well together." I was pushing him toward her, handing him the

u agree." He lingered for a moment. "You know, after the show

ure that no longer existed. I just nod

ame, a smug little smile playing on her lips. "He feels guilty," she said, her v

rected, my voice flat.

pad from my workbench. "Is this the final diagnostic from the ch

" I said, turnin

bout the project that were just a little too pointed. She was looking fo

rporation' s known industrial espionage unit, hit our servers. It wasn't a real attack, it was a simulation I had

as yelled, running into

a technician shouted. "The s

ut through the noise. "Elias! The bio-integratio

e's a hardware vulnerability in the primary regulator. Chloe' s design. A surge lik

The look on his face was a mixture of shock, betrayal, and fury. He

w her as infallible, a savior. And in this n

demanded, his voi

id calmly, meeting his gaze.

ttack like this!" he shot back. "Did you

n on the faces of my colleagues, people I had worked with for years. Seraphina ha

ina urged, her voice filled with manufact

m determination. He was shutting down our project. The project we had built

his anger, rolling off him in waves. He was so focused on Seraphina, so determined to fix the problem she had "found," tha

The power stabilized

ly. He looked at Seraphina with pure, unadulterate

me. His eyes were cold. "

e story where I was cast out. I had built my ow