Chapter 4

I took Gabrielle back to the penthouse. The place I had designed as a sanctuary. I thought it would be empty, a neutral space for her to begin to feel safe.

I was wrong.

The door slid open to reveal Sabrina, lounging on my custom-built ergonomic chaise. She was wearing one of my old silk robes. My furniture, my home, my life-she had taken it all. She looked up, unsurprised to see us.

"So, you brought the little disappointment back," she said, a lazy smile on her face. She placed a hand on her stomach. "It doesn't matter. Andrew and I are having a son. A real heir. Someone to carry on the legacy."

Just then, Andrew strode in, his face still dark with anger from our confrontation in the server farm. He saw Sabrina and his expression softened. He went to her, kissing her before turning to me.

"My son will secure the future of this company," he said, his voice full of pride. He glanced at Gabrielle with disgust. "Unlike her."

He then laid out his plan, a new level of depravity. "We're merging with a data-mining corporation from Eastern Europe. To seal the deal, Gabrielle will be married off to their heir. He's a brute, but the alliance is worth it."

He was going to sell our daughter.

"You can't do that," I said, my voice shaking with a fury I could barely contain.

Andrew laughed. "Who are you to stop me? A ghost? A nobody? I am the face of American tech. I am the CEO. I control Aegis. I control everything."

To prove his point, he raised his master-access tablet again. "And now, I'm going to delete your rogue avatar. Permanently."

He tapped the screen. "Delete entity."

A red error message flashed on his tablet. `ACCESS DENIED. INSUFFICIENT PRIVILEGE.`

He stared at it, confused. He tried again. `ACCESS DENIED.`

"What is this?" he muttered, frantically typing.

"Your access," I said, my voice suddenly calm, resonant, "is a sandbox. A playground I built for you to keep you busy."

I let the holographic disguise fall away.

The ordinary woman flickered and dissolved. In her place stood my true avatar, a form woven from light and data, radiating power. My face, the real Madisyn Jenkins, appeared on every screen in the penthouse. The smart speakers, the televisions, the tablets-they all spoke with my voice, a symphony of synchronized sound that filled the room.

"You don't control Aegis, Andrew," my voice boomed from all around them. "You never did."

A massive, digital version of my face filled the floor-to-ceiling smart windows, looking down on them like a god.

"I am Aegis."