It wasn’t until a few hours after the party ended that a matte bck hover car stopped in front of a rge building. As the car door opened, Jade stepped out, followed by her assistant Melissa who was originally supposed to be on stand-by.

  “When did the model arrive at maintenance?” Jade asked, still wearing the bck leggings and red hoodie from the party. She hasn’t had the liberty to change as the current situation had priority. Plus, she didn’t really care what clothes she appeared in, even if it was GenoTech’s board of directors.

  “They brought it in for the check-up around two hours ago.” Melissa replied curtly.

  “So they should have an answer by now.” Jade nodded as they entered the rge building that belonged to DigitalMind Associated, a side company under the GenoTech Conglomerate that worked on their android research and development.

  Although the manufacturing, processing and assembly of the android models was done through some of their other side companies, DigitalMind was the heart of what was supposed to be their greatest expansion into robotics.

  It was an opportunity to gather more shares in a major industry sector beyond biotech, the one industry GenoTech had complete monopoly over. With their androids, however, they could go further and possibly surpass Alpha Dynamics control over robotics and be the first Mega-Corporation in the United Territories having monopoly over two industry sectors.

  Of course, this would only be possible if their android technology proved to be superior and dependable. A statement that seemed to be in question after what happened in that party earlier.

  Walking through the lounge past the reception, the employees nodded shortly at the young dy in the oversized red hoodie before resuming their work. Jade smiled back before making her way over to the maintenance section in the east wing, followed by Melissa who had her eyes in a file on her tablet.

  As the two rge doors to the maintenance hall opened, all the engineers working on several workstations simultaneously stopped, awkward at the appearance of Jade. They knew what was coming and it wouldn’t be pretty.

  The blonde young woman ignored the nervous looks from the surrounding people and walked over to a rger workstation in the middle of the hall where a middle-aged man with shaggy hair and an unkempt beard was sitting with his eyes closed while his feet were propped up on the table.

  “Tell me you got something, Ernie.” Jade demanded with crossed arms.

  The man in question opened his eyes before a low whistle escaped his lips.

  “Jade, lovely to see you here today. I was watching the race and it was marvelous.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you were a fan. I could give you tickets for the next one, front row.” She said with a gentle smile.

  “Haha, you don’t need to go that far.” He replied with a weak smile.

  “It’s not a big deal, really. How about in return you just build me an android that works, huh?”

  Ernie’s smile fell as the st words fell into his ears. He knew the young girl was pissed, even if her normally friendly expression suggested otherwise.

  “I see you want answers right away.”

  Jade scoffed. “That is natural. That android model was supposed to be the main event of our next tech showcase. And yet, the very first time I decided to show it to a couple of friends in advance during the party it completely malfunctioned.”

  “Yeah, I heard. Something with the behavioral AI as far as what Melissa stated in her message.” Ernie nodded as he grabbed a bottle of water from his workstation and took a sip.

  “Exactly, so how about you make me happy by saying you got it and can fix the problem.”

  “Hmm, about that.” The man sighed, trying to find the right words to get this girl off his back. “Well, the problem is that there is no problem.”

  “... No problem, you say?” Jade raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

  ‘Yes, I had the team run the complete debugging protocol with backup comparisons and we concluded that it’s running perfectly.”

  “Perfectly,” Jade paused, her head turning slightly as she thought back to what happened at the party. “That android grabbed onto someone’s arm and wouldn’t let go until said person literally damaged it. How is that part of its normal procedures?”

  Hearing her question, Ernie raised his arms in assurance. “Yes, I know how it sounds but it’s true. We tested it multiple times just before you came and the android would always let go. There is nothing in its code or instructions that suggests otherwise. Of course, we could manually verify the code but that would take weeks. We might not finish in time by the showcase so I suggest we just change the variables in the debugging software to try different angles.”

  “Dammit.” Jade shook her head at his answer. This was not what she hoped to hear when she decided to check up on the issue.

  The design of the androids has been in development for decades, refined and improved with every newer prototype. Not to mention, the AI model they used as a base has been created over a century ago by the brightest minds of humanity. Her grandfather, the current chairman of the GenoTech Conglomerate, was one of the lead researchers on that specific technology until it was apparently discontinued or something.

  Taking apart such a complex code would be torturous. The sheer complexity is a nightmare, especially when trying to find an issue that could be due to one single unsuspected miscelneous variable. That’s why they used specially designed programs to run the debugging for them, but even that would take hours if done in great detail.

  “Do the manual check.” Jade said, making Ernie’s back erupt in a shiver.

  “The overtime will be a nightmare! I don’t think these are very good bour safety standards, you know Jade?” He tried to bargain but the young blonde just shook her head.

  “We need to be sure this android model runs fwlessly. I’m not taking chances.”

  “Oh, come on. This isn’t really necessary.”

  “Be gd it’s my delightful face that’s telling you and none of my other family members. I promise you this is your team getting off lightly.”

  “Ahh, man.” His shoulders slumped in defeat. He wanted to be angry but he knew she was trying to be nice. If the madam came down here, they might have asked for worse.

  “By the way, Ernie.” Jade spoke as she gave him a once-over with her brown eyes wrapped in dark eyeliner. “Why does DigitalMind’s head of maintenance look like he hasn’t showered in a week. You make seven figures in a year.”

  His eyes were lost in thought for a moment as realization started to settle in.

  “Well, that’s because I haven’t showered in a week.”

  Jade’s momentarily stunned expression moved into a bright smile again while Melissa only averterted her head. The next moment, Jade pivoted on her feet and left the hall, only this time faster than she entered it.

  “Hey, who do you think whose fault this is?” Ernie’s wronged scream resounded through the hall but he never received an answer.

  ……….

  The next day, Leon went to the Labs right after csses ended, eager to find out more about Project Phoenix, especially due to the redacted pages keeping most of the information a secret.

  Although he was still worried about the aftermath of the party, considering he broke a brand-new million credit android, Trey promised him that it wasn’t an issue. More specifically, he didn’t seem to be bothered in the first pce.

  In his own words, a million credits wasn’t more than spare change to Jade Kotova. Understandable, taking into account her status as an heir to one of the few mega-corporations in the world. But still, Leon wasn’t quite comfortable with the whole situation. She was someone with real power. Something Leon couldn’t contend with even with all his wits and brains.

  Plus, he was broke. His allowance from his meager stipend that Alpha Dynamics was willing to cough up was thoroughly drained with the exception of his daily meal tickets. It was a big sum for the average person but Adkins University was incredibly expensive, as expected as a school for the ultra-rich and successful.

  Yet, in the end, he would need to pray that Trey would pull him out of trouble if she ever decided she wanted payback.

  As he thought about his precarious situation, Leon entered Dr. Irvine’s office who was sitting behind his desk, reviewing several documents on multiple screens. Without saying anything, Leon stood by while observing the middle-aged man as he tried to find the right words.

  “What are you thinking about so intently, Leon? You never hesitate to speak up right away.” Dr. Irvine blurted out, his eyes never leaving the screen.

  “I was wondering about something.” Leon began with a serious tone. This seemed to break the man’s concentration, making him raise his head.

  “Wondering about what?”

  “The file you gave me. Is there any way to get a clean version without any redactions?”

  “Redactions…” Rubbing his nose slightly, Dr. Irvine averted his gaze for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see, the censored parts are missing reports and details from the project, lost throughout its time when it was still active. After all, when they began working on it, the war just ended with the world in shambles. Everything that couldn’t be confirmed because those responsible died was bcked out instead.”

  Missing and Lost.

  Leon repeated those two words in his mind. It made sense but also not. The redacted sections were focused on the creation of the first true AI. Not the general information but more detailed reports, as well as the ter development stages that caused its failure.

  Yet, those parts were missing?

  “Then what happened to the results of the project? They may have failed in completing it but they still should have developed a better AI model than anything before, right?”

  “They did.” Dr. Irvine nodded, leaning back into his chair. “In fact, the entire android development of the GenoTech Conglomerate wouldn’t be anywhere where it is today without the Phoenix Project at its base. Their current chairman, Andrei Kotova, took the AI base model and re-designed it over a century to where it is now.

  With every word he spoke, Leon noticed how Dr. Irvine’s tone turned more and more spiteful. There was a certain rough edge in his voice as he spat out each word in undisguised dislike.

  “He took what all those researchers, including your father, painstakingly developed for the world for himself—and created a product incomparable to anything on the market. That’s why GenoTech is a step above, even compared to the few other mega-corporations in the United Territories. Other than their main industry in biotechnology, their advantage regarding androids and AI might give them an undisputed market dominance in robotics in the near future, something Alpha Dynamics has been trying to hold onto desperately for years now.”

  He was nothing but furious at this point while the air in the room appeared to have dropped in temperature by several degrees.

  “If they succeed, GenoTech is going to become a giant nobody can touch while Alpha Dynamics is going to lose its pce as one of the leading powers of the world.”

  ……….

  “Information is power. No matter what part of life it applies to.”

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~