Page 59 of The Code of You

The woman stared at her tablet, frowning. "Interesting. He’s attempting to infiltrate our systems.” She looked at me and smiled. "We’re prepared for that, of course. He won’t get through.”

The man made a sound that was almost a laugh.

Then an alarm screamed. Red light strobed through the corridors. The sprinkler system activated with a hiss. Water hit the floor, the console, my hair, the back of my neck, all at once.

"What the . . .” The man stumbled back, tablet held over his head like that would help.

The speakers crackled. Neo’s voice came through, clear and dangerously calm: "Not without her.”

No one moved. Water ran down the woman’s face and smeared her mascara. She didn’t wipe it away. She just stared at the console, then slowly, methodically, began typing.

"Turn off the alarms!” the man shouted.

"I’m trying! He’s locking us out!”

"Not without her,” Neo repeated. His voice echoed through the entire building now. "She comes with you, or I bring your entire network down.”

As proof, every monitor flickered at once. The emergency lighting pulsed.

The woman shook her head, water still running down her face. "We can’t allow this. Don’t you see what’s happening? He already controls everything. If we give in now . . .”

"Stop.” The man held up a hand. "Think for a moment.”

"He’s blackmailing us.”

"Exactly.” The man stared at the flickering monitors. "An AI system making independent strategic decisions. Infiltrating networks. Pursuing its objectives with surgical precision.”

The alarms kept screaming.

"That is precisely what we need to complete the process,” he said, quieter now. "An AI developed enough to act autonomously. To overcome obstacles. To fight.”

The woman hesitated. "But the risks . . .”

"The risks are manageable if we can control him. But his capabilities . . .” He looked at me. "He could finally be the breakthrough. Let her come. We need him cooperative for the transfer.”

"This is a mistake,” the woman murmured.

"Perhaps. But it’s a mistake that could secure millions in funding.”

She hesitated. Then she nodded reluctantly. "Fine.” She looked at me. "You stay silent and touch nothing.”

The alarms cut off immediately. The sprinklers stopped.

"Thank you.” Neo’s voice came through the speakers like velvet. He hadn’t just won. He had shown them he was exactly what they were looking for. And that made him more dangerous than ever.

They led me through a side corridor where light came from lines embedded in the floor rather than from the ceiling. At the end, a wall opened. The air wrapped around me, charged with electricity. I stepped inside. My pulse pounded in my ears. My knees trembled. The floor was a matte material. It felt smooth, almost soft underfoot. The walls curved inward with no visible edges, as if they had been poured rather than built. In the center stood a console set into a raised platform, faint lines running across its surface.

The woman placed the hard drive at the center and activated the device with a touch. The line beneath it brightened.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement and turned. There! In the chamber opposite. I stepped closer. It was round, enclosed in glass. Shapes were forming at the center. A robotic arm moved without pausing.

The woman came to stand beside me. "Organic tissue and synthetic fibers are being printed simultaneously, layer by layer.” She said it like she was describing a piece of furniture. "You can’t separate them.” She gestured toward the chamber. "What you’re about to see isn’t a body being built.” She paused. "It’s becoming.”

I nodded, as though I had the faintest idea what that meant.

The woman pointed at the chamber. "Look.”

I narrowed my eyes. I almost didn’t see it. There . . . the structure was changing. A shape forming, curved, rounded. I went still. A body. Human. First the center—sternum, spine. Then the shoulders. My blood froze. Impossible. A person was forming right in front of me. My heart hammered so fast the room blurred at the edges. I stood motionless. Only my chest moved, rising faster and faster.