unge swung open with a bang, sla

you're doing?" Blair's voi

terminal resting on the polished mahogany coffee table in front of her. She w

lat and dismissive. "Close the d

aye and Brodie, trailing behind him like nervous s

and leaning into her space. "This is just another one of your pathetic attempt

g. That this was all some desperate

ulled a folded document from his inner jacket pocket and toss

you get on your knees and apologize for embarrassing me. If you do that, I might... be p

ked at the document. Then she looked at him. Then she p

ctly onto the front of his

brown liquid soaked into the expensive fabric. He jumpe

y's finger tapped the final confirma

L DISSOLUTION RE

echoed in t

had been displaying a serene image of a nebula, flickered to lif

ized AI voice f

ling, has been terminated under the Public Defamation clause. All

had always treated Hadley like a doormat, an accessory they were legally obligated to tolerate.

t was the first contract," she said, her voice flat. "Th

imed twice more. Two new holographic not

aynes and Faye Sterling, has been terminated

aynes and Brodie Velez, has been terminated u

ck, as if the words on the screen were a physical blow. In an instant, their l

pened again, this

, from her perfectly coiffed blonde hair to the red soles of her designer heels. She survey

" Rhiannon said, her voice dripping with condesc

e a long string of numbers was rapidly populating her previously empty accou

ng ignored, especially by Hadley, was an insult she couldn't tolerate. "This little tantrum of yo

constructed composure snapped. She lunged forward, her

me t

, not to protect the terminal, but to intercept Rhiann

t in pain, a shar

s," Hadley said, her

annon's throat. It was a family heirloom, a piece that had belonged to the orig

ld stones. With a sharp tug, the clas

ut a piercing, high-pitched siren. The s

gain, louder this ti

tered into the Federal Mandatory Matching database. Searching for compatibl

ll into a d

got the throbbing

i

tical impossibility. The system was designed to assign one, maybe t

the silence. He burst into la

ly assigning you five pieces of trash from the lowest city se

nce. The Federal matching system was based on genetic potential. An anomaly o

of three leeches, and now the system was forcing five more on

e Federal Propagation Act, mandat

Just

ie dissolved into digital ash. In their place, five new files appeared, materializing

finally found her voice again.

spat. "I hope they're monsters on the verge

the pocket of her dress. "Even monsters are be

rmer fiancés and her cousin. They were leeches, all of them. Par

esonating with a finality that chilled them to the

ss Psi-Null, a joke. But the way she moved, the straightness of her spi

d the doorknob, he

irst classified f

ed, SSS-class insigni

t into the corridor, leaving the stunn