AdrianMy eyelids fluttered open to an eerie silence.White ceilings stretched above me, completely smooth and without a single light fixture. I stared at it for several seconds, trying to understand where I was.My head hurt. Wincing, I lifted my left hand to rub my forehead but stopped halfway and stared at my fingers instead. I couldn’t help noticing that my little pinky fingernail had slightly outgrown the others, so I went ahead and bit it off. The sensation was real.Then I sat up slowly. “Where am I?”The floor was cool beneath my feet as I began walking toward the door. It opened before I could touch it, making me pause.A woman stood outside. She looked to be in her thirties. Her black hair was packed into a neat ponytail, and she wore a gray suit without any jewelry except a small silver device attached to her wrist.She looked at me for a moment, then smiled. “Good morning, Adrian. My name is Dr. Mercer.”I stared at her. “Do I know you?”“No.”“Then how do you know my name

Daniel“Five million dollars?”My wife’s head snapped toward me. She hurried over and reached for the phone. “What exactly do you want him to do?” she asked, immediately putting the call on speaker.The voice on the other end remained calm. “We need your cooperation in locating Adrian Vale’s reconstruction.”“Reconstruction?”“Yes. We recovered Adrian’s neural architecture after his death and reconstructed his consciousness. It contains information from Adrian’s original mind that our surviving research cannot access.”I frowned. “And how can I help you with that?”“We know he contacted you. We need you to help us establish a stable connection. Once we recover the reconstruction, five million dollars will be transferred to your account.”I lowered my voice. “What happens to Adrian…or his consciousness, whatever?”“That is not your concern.”My expression hardened. “It became my concern the moment you called my house.”There was a brief silence.“We’ll send someone to explain everythin

DanielThe chamber fell silent.Dr. Elias stared at the darkened containment units for a moment before turning away. “Secure the chamber.”The security officers moved immediately, locking the doors behind the scientists as they left the containment room.——————————————————————The filing had already been submitted, and several documents were spread across the dining table in front of me. I went through the evidence again, checking the records from the neural relay and the information I had gathered about Veyron.Camille stood across from me, watching without touching any of the papers.“You actually filed it,” she said.I didn’t look up. “Yes.”She let out a frustrated breath. “Daniel, do you understand what you’re doing?”“I do.”“No, I don’t think you do.” She folded her arms. “They offered us five million. Five million, Daniel. And now you’re taking them to court?”“They attacked me.”“And you think they will just sit there and accept that?” she asked. “These are not ordinary peopl

Dr. Elias Dr. Elias stood inside the conference room, staring at the large screen in front of him. Daniel Reed’s name was displayed across it while Victor sat at the other end of the table, completely calm. “He filed the injunction,” Elias said. “I know.” “He’s refusing to withdraw it.” Victor leaned back in his chair. “He will.” Elias looked at him. “And if he doesn’t?” Victor’s expression didn’t change. “Then we make sure he understands what refusing us will cost him.” Elias glanced at the files on the table. The legal team had already prepared their response. They would challenge Daniel’s authority, question his claims, and argue that Adrian was corporate property rather than a legal person. But Victor wasn’t interested in stopping there. “You want to destroy his career?” Elias asked. “I want him to become too afraid to continue.” Victor picked up one of the documents and glanced at it. “He really believes the court can protect Adrian.” “He’s a lawyer. That’s wha

DanielI remained beside the desk for a while after my son disappeared upstairs. The house had gone quiet again, but the silence felt different now. I could still hear the faint movement of footsteps above me, followed by the closing of a door.I looked at the relay.A part of me wanted to destroy it and forget the entire situation. If I had never accepted Veyron’s offer, none of this would have happened. Camille would not be frightened, my son would not be listening from the stairs, and I would not be preparing travel documents because I was afraid of what a company might do to my family.But then I remembered what had happened when I connected the device.I remembered the pain.I remembered struggling to breathe while something that was never supposed to be inside my nervous system forced its way through me. Most importantly, I remembered Adrian fighting to break the connection before it killed me.I picked up the relay and turned it over in my hand.Adrian had saved my life.That f