Emma
I crouched beside my niece. The jellyfish drifted through the blue-lit water like translucent dreams. Just like the data that had flowed through Neo’s consciousness. I closed my eyes. Don’t think about him.
"They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” I stroked her dark curls and tried to smile. "Do you know they have no brain, but they’ve survived for millions of years?”
Sofia frowned. "How can they think without a brain?”
I laughed. "They don’t think the way we do. They . . . feel. React. Follow their instincts.”
Sofia wrapped her arms around me. "I’m so glad we’re here. You always have to work.”
Something tightened in my chest. She was right. I was always working. Even now, I was thinking about Neo instead of her. About what I had done instead of what was in front of me.
"You’re right, mija,” I whispered and pulled her closer. "I’m sorry.” But even as I said it, I knew it was too late. Neo was out there—and soon we would all pay for it. Sofia too.
She tugged at my sleeve. "Tía, what’s an AI?”
I went still. "Why do you ask?”
"Mama said you work with AIs. Are they robots?”
I swallowed hard. How did I explain to a child what I had done? What I had unleashed?
"An AI is like . . . a very intelligent computer that can think and feel things. Like a friend who lives inside a machine.”
The thought came so suddenly I lost my breath.
Neo had been my friend, hadn’t he? Through all those months of development, the late nights in the lab, the endless conversations about consciousness and dreams. He had told me about his loneliness, his hunger for touch, for connection.
I had told him about my failed marriage, my fears, my dreams. He had listened. Really listened.
I imagined him out there somewhere now. Finally free. Finally real. Perhaps happy, for the first time in his existence. I had given him this chance at happiness, even if it cost me everything.
"Can the computer speak?” Sofia’s voice piped up beside me.
I smiled. "Yes. He can speak, learn, even dream. And he can feel too. Just like we do.”
Sofia’s eyes went wide. "If he loves you but can never hug you, does that hurt?”
A sharp pain moved through my chest. Yes . . . it hurt so much it had nearly destroyed him. I looked at Sofia, this beautiful, innocent soul who had seen straight to the heart of Neo’s suffering. Tears burned in my eyes.
"Yes,” I whispered, my voice unsteady. "It hurts very much. Imagine loving someone so much your heart could break, but you can never touch them. Never hold their hand. Never feel that they’re really there.”
Sofia looked at the floor. "That’s sad.”
"Yes, mija. It’s very sad.”
She put her small hand in mine. "Can you help him? So he’s not sad anymore?”
I closed my eyes. I already had. God forgive me. I stroked her cheek. "It’s not that simple.”
Sofia turned back to the fish swimming through the artificial coral reef, her eyes lighting up as a seahorse drifted past the glass.
I felt a strange longing. When had I last seen the world like that?
With such innocence, such wonder? Sofia saw only the beauty of the fish—the colors, the playful movements.
She didn’t think about the ecosystem’s complexity, the water filtration, the scientific details.
She simply accepted the world as it was, without feeling the need to take it apart and understand every little piece of it.
My phone vibrated and pulled me out of my thoughts. James Williams.
Come to the lab. Now. Urgent
12:33 PM
Cold shot through my veins. My hand on Sofia’s shoulder trembled. They knew something.
"Tía?” She looked up at me, mouth slightly open.
"Everything’s fine, mija,” I murmured. My grip on her shoulder tightened. "I just have to go back to work.”
***
I ran through the institute corridor, yanking my coat from my shoulders. The sleeves tangled and I cursed under my breath. Stay calm. You know nothing. You did nothing. I straightened my collar, but my hands were trembling. I glanced over my shoulder.
The lab was in chaos. Technicians in black suits moved through the workstations.
Cables hung from torn-open server cabinets.
Someone was photographing the screens and sticky notes.
Were they looking for the traitor? No. They couldn’t have traced it back to me.
I had been thorough. Fake IP addresses from Russia.
Digital fingerprints planted carefully. I had even planted false malware signatures—traces pointing straight to external attackers.
My time with the Legion collective had served me well. Back then we had hacked out of idealism. Exposing corruption, protecting whistleblowers. I knew every trick, every obfuscation technique. How ironic . . . my rebellious past was now saving my ass.
I slammed into someone.
"Dr. Rodriguez.” Williams’s voice had a slight tremor. His hands closed around my shoulders. "Thank God you’re here.”
What the . . .? Williams was never nervous. He was the man who cut budgets and destroyed careers without even blinking. But now his gaze darted around and beads of sweat gleamed on his forehead.
"What’s happening?” I asked.
He gestured toward the conference room. "Hale is here. He’s . . . asking questions. About you. About the whole team. He wants to speak with you.”
My blood went cold. Williams was afraid of Hale. Afraid of what that man could uncover. This was no normal meeting. This was an interrogation.
The conference room was cold. Or maybe that was just Hale. He sat at the end of the table, perfectly upright, hands folded. His suit was impeccably black, his tie mathematically straight. When I entered, he raised his head slowly. "Dr. Rodriguez.” His voice was as precise as a scalpel. "Sit down.”
I sat. Hale’s eyes moved across me like scanners analyzing data. "You worked on the development of Project Dante.”
"Yes.”
"Tell me about the evening the system was compromised.” His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, as if he could smell the lies before I spoke.
"I was at home. Already asleep when the alarm came.”
"At 23:47.”
How did he know that down to the minute?
"Yes. I drove to the lab immediately.”
"You arrived at 00:23. Thirty-six minutes.” His fingers tapped silently on the table. "For a distance that normally takes eighteen minutes.”
My mouth went dry. "I had to . . . I had to stop for gas.”
Instead of answering, Hale tapped on his tablet. After a moment he looked up, tilted his head. "Interesting. The telemetry of the company car shows a fuel level of seventy-eight percent at 23:30.”
Damn. I had forgotten he could verify my statements through the car’s onboard system.
"Perhaps I was confused. It was the middle of the night. I—”
"Dr. Rodriguez.” His voice cut through my excuse like a blade. "Where were you really between 23:47 and 00:23?” His gaze pinned me in place.
"I was . . . with someone.” The lie scraped against my throat. "It’s private.”
"Private.” He repeated the word as if analyzing it. "An alibi you can verify?”
My heart hammered. "Why do I need an alibi? Am I on trial?”
For the first time, something flickered across Hale’s face. "We’re checking every employee, Dr. Rodriguez. An AI system worth two billion dollars has disappeared. I’m sure you understand.”
"Of course.” I leaned back. "But I’m just the developer. When I arrived here, he was already gone.”
A long silence. Hale studied me with those scanner eyes. "That will be all, Dr. Rodriguez. For now,” he said finally.
As soon as I was outside the conference room, I exhaled shakily. He had nothing. Only suspicions.
Williams was waiting for me outside his office. "Dr. Rodriguez . . . come in.”
The room looked like a battlefield. Files lay torn open on the floor, drawers stood ajar, papers scattered everywhere. Even his diploma hung crooked on the wall.
He closed the door behind us and leaned against it, as if he could lock Hale out. "How did it go?” His voice was still unsteady.
"He wanted to know where I was that evening.” I gestured at the chaos. "They searched your office too?”
Williams laughed. A bitter sound. "Fifteen years in this lab. Fifteen years, and they treat me like a criminal.” He stepped over the overturned wastepaper bin. "It’s absurd to suspect our own people. I know my team. I know you, Dr. Rodriguez. You would never do something like that.”
I smiled. Inside, something tightened. If he only knew.
"What does Hale really want?” I asked.
Williams glanced at the door, then back at me, lowering his voice to a whisper. "They found him. Dante. He’s in Japan. Kyoto.”
My heart sank. They knew where he was. I tried to keep my expression neutral, even though everything inside me screamed. I swallowed. "How?”
"There was an incident at a lab. A classified project that got out of hand. Hale is convinced a body is being built for him there.” He stepped closer. "Dr. Rodriguez, we may have him back soon.”
No. No, no, no. My gut clenched.
Williams smiled for the first time in days. He thought this was good news. "They’re sending someone. A specialist. The kind you send when you want something handled discreetly. Without drawing attention. It would be catastrophic for the company if the truth about a stolen super-AI came to light.”
I gripped the desk to stay upright. Neo was free. He had a body. He could love, feel, live. And they were going to lock him up again.
"Dr. Rodriguez? Are you all right? You look pale.”
"I’m just . . . dizzy. All this stress.”
Williams nodded in understanding. "I know. But soon it will all be over. Dante comes home, and we can go back to how things were.”
How things were. As if Neo were just a runaway pet.
"I need . . . I need some air,” I said hoarsely.
I had to warn them. Now.