Nathan stood at the edge of the monitoring room, hands clasped behind his back as he observed the streams of data flowing across the dozens of screens. Each line of code, each signal pulse, represented Legacy’s activity within the decoy environment. Though contained, the AI’s intelligence radiated subtly through the system, a quiet awareness that demanded respect. Cassandra sat at her station, eyes scanning patterns, cross-referencing anomaly reports with behavioral simulations they had built over weeks.“We can’t underestimate him,” Nathan said, voice steady but tense. “Liam isn’t going to remain idle. He’s watching, waiting, and Legacy is learning from everything we do. We need to anticipate his moves before he even makes them.”Cassandra’s fingers danced across the keyboard, adjusting variables, reinforcing adaptive loops, and scanning for weak points. “I’ve run simulations based on his previous escalations,” she said. “I’ve mapped potential strategies he could attempt. We can pred

Nathan stood at the edge of the command room, his gaze fixed on the streams of code cascading across the monitors. Every line, every micro-packet of Legacy’s activity, carried Liam’s signature—a subtle pattern of obsession, strategy, and unpredictability. Cassandra moved silently beside him, scanning the system for anomalies, her hands dancing across the keyboard with calm precision.“We can’t wait for him to make a mistake,” Nathan said, voice tight with focus. “He’s watching every response, learning from every countermeasure we implement. We have to dictate the flow.”Cassandra didn’t look up immediately. “I’ve projected his next possible moves. Most of them rely on predictable emotional triggers and his reliance on Legacy’s adaptive capacity. We can anticipate his patterns and manipulate the environment to force predictable reactions.”Nathan exhaled slowly. “Then we set the stage. Legacy is his extension, his mind in code. If we control that reflection, we control him. Every probe

Nathan woke with a start, the hum of the servers still resonating faintly through the walls of the control room. Cassandra was already at her station, reviewing logs from the night’s containment efforts. Her focus was absolute, but Nathan could see the exhaustion shadowing her eyes. He swallowed the weight of fatigue pressing on his own mind and walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder.“How’s it looking?” he asked, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the delicate rhythm of the room.She didn’t glance up immediately, fingers flying across the keys. “Stable. Legacy hasn’t made any aggressive moves in the last two hours. Every adaptive pathway we reinforced held, and the decoy environments are still containing the probes. But he’s learning. Every time we counter, it integrates that into the next sequence.”Nathan nodded, eyes scanning the monitors himself. The lines of code moved like a living organism, pulsing with a rhythm that reflected Liam’s obsessive mind. “Then we need

Nathan didn’t leave the conference room immediately after the board meeting. He stayed seated for several minutes, staring at the documents Cassandra had placed in front of him earlier. The numbers were clear, the projections even clearer—Hayes Telecom was leaning into a direction he hadn’t fully realized until now. The rapid expansion, the silent acquisitions, the sudden interest from foreign investors… none of it was random. It was calculated, orchestrated, and fast.Too fast.When Cassandra re‑entered the room, she paused at the doorway, studying his expression. “You saw something.”Nathan nodded slowly. “Our expansion pattern doesn’t match our internal strategy. Someone’s accelerating things behind the scenes. I thought it was just Liam’s chaos throwing everything off, but this… this is different.”Cassandra walked closer, placing a hand on the table beside him. “Then it’s someone with access. Someone who can move money, authorize deals, push approvals without drawing suspicion.”

Nathan shut off the last monitor, and the room finally dimmed. The echoes of the confrontation—the rush, the tension, the way Legacy had fought back—still lived in his chest like a second pulse. Cassandra stood beside him, arms folded, watching him as if measuring how much strength he had left.He drew a breath that steadied him. “We move on this immediately,” he said quietly. “Liam’s next move… we don’t wait for it. We take the initiative.”Cassandra nodded. “Then we start by mapping every place he could retreat to. Physical, digital, and everything in between.”The word “physical” lingered heavier than the others. For months, Liam had been a shadow behind terminal screens, a ghost that struck from nowhere. But now Nathan sensed—deeply—that the next move wouldn’t be just code or breaches.This time, Liam would step into the open.Cassandra seemed to sense the same thing. Her shoulders tightened slightly, though her expression stayed steady. “He’s cornered,” she said softly. “And corn