a pawn in his games with her. His company had successfully acquired hers, but he still wanted something from her: her public en

ted, he decided to

e

dressed me in a simple, non-threatening uniform. Then he took me

ilently behind him. "I know how attached you were. I' ve completed the 'upgrades.

me, her face went blank. It was a carefully controlled mask of professiona

"Alex, that is ent

"He' s the best there is

x' s restrictive programming was screaming at me to remain silent, to stand still. But my own hidden

, using the exact tone she had

ognition seems to be fixated on my

g her dismissal. "We stayed up until dawn, drinking cheap wine. You spilled some o

, intimate details that only she and I could know. I saw a fli

here," she said, her

with it? Why is it saying these things?" He turned to his two bodygu

he just watched, her f

t it h

ages through my systems. The other guard kicked me in the ribs. A sharp crack echoed in the silent off

them, but to Ava. I looked at

e as if I were a malfunctioning appliance. Her sil

I had to prove I was mo

high-pressure coolant line in my arm to rupture. A thick, bluish liquid, the lifeb

king arm. "I bleed. Just like you.

ndeniable proof. The one thing sh

s wr

er laugh. It was the ugli

lled with scorn. "A new feature? Theatrical fluid leaks

, her gaze filled wit

ping with sarcasm. "But I' m not buying it. Get this.

the city below. She dismissed me. She dismissed my pain, my blood, my reality.

they pulled me past her desk, I saw her reflection in the polished glass. She was perfectly st

It was replaced by the chilling certainty of her words. She didn't just s