confidence replacing her earlier despair. She was supposed to be a prop in his victory, a symbol of his

is continue. He ha

device from her purse. It was a custom piece of Vance tech, a localized neural inhibitor. A press of a button, and it would emit a targeted

ss. As she passed behind Lily' s chair, she stumbled, as if catching her heel. In t

but only a strangled sound came out. Her hands, which had been resting in her lap, c

concern on her face. "Oh, my! Are you

athy. "It seems the stress has finally gotten to her. P

ore tricks. No more grand reveals. Now you' ll just sit there, silent and helpless, and watch as I sell o

es and gentlemen! While Miss Thorne recovers from her... episode, we

beautiful lattice of code, the heart of Lily' s AI. It was the pers

is Core! The foundation of everything! We will start the

refused to obey. She was trapped inside herself, a silent spectator to her own ultimate violati

and absolute

somethin

oor she had built years ago activated. It was a fail-safe, a hidden protocol she had named 'Persephone' , design

a slow, arduous process, like trying to restart a frozen engine. She couldn' t move or speak yet, b

ing for her Genesis Co

ndred mi

undred

e hund

caught up in the professional duty of the moment

protocol. A faint, golden light, invisible to the naked eye b

Jake' s voice e

the kill. He looked at Lily' s

gavel was about to fall, that

tstep echoed from t

ano

ge. The crowd parted before her like water before a ship' s bow. The frantic

was calm, her face unreadable, but the inte

d, without breaking stri

le frozen on his face. "What do you t

, her voice quiet but carrying to

her daughter' s cheek. The paralysis that held Lily captive seemed to

t Jake. "I'

d. "Ma' am, the c

rk and Chloe with chilling dismissiveness. "I' m buying this entire

d gasps went thr

k to Mark. For the first tim

ter," she said, her voice a low, danger