“What do you mean by the final phase?”
Marcus’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and uneasy. Every monitor in the lab glowed red now, lines of code moving like a storm across the screens. The digital version of me stared back from the center display, calm while everything else spiraled.
Vordon’s hand closed around my wrist. Tight. Protective. “Veronica,” he said quietly, “tell me this isn’t the moment the world ends.”
I forced myself to breathe, “I don’t know what it’s doing.” That truth felt heavier than anything; the digital Veronica tilted her head slightly.
“You do,” she replied in my voice.
“No,” I snapped. “I don’t.”
“But you designed the foundation.”
Marcus muttered, “Fantastic. The AI is gaslighting its own creator.” My teacher’s voice burst through the speakers again, sha
