Chapter 3 - The Debugging Process
By the following Tuesday, the atmosphere at Northstar Robotics had reached a fever pitch of tension. The company was on the cusp of launching the Aegis-5, a breakthrough autonomous medical assistant, and the board was divided. Julian Thorne wanted the project fast-tracked for military contract applications; Claire insisted it remain a civilian tool for home care and mobility.
Claire sat in the lobby’s main atrium, waiting for Mason. She hadn't seen him since their lunch, but she had kept tabs on his performance. He was brilliant. He hadn't just fixed the server room; he had reorganized the entire cable architecture to prevent the overheating issues that had plagued the AI processing units for weeks.
As he walked in, carrying his tool belt, he looked uncomfortable in the sleek, modern lobby.
"Mr. Reed," Claire said, rolling her chair toward him. "I hear you’ve been doing more than just electrical work."
Mason stopped, checking his watch. "I saw a few things that weren't efficient, Claire. I hope I didn't step on anyone’s toes. I know the head of Facilities is a bit… protective."
"He’s a bureaucrat," Claire said, motioning for him to follow her toward the elevator. "And he’s Julian Thorne’s cousin. Don't worry about his toes."
"Where’s Lucy?" Claire asked, noticing the absence of the small girl.
"At the community center," Mason said. "She’s learning to use a real camera. She’s obsessed with the idea of taking a photo of Senator Pickles in flight. She says he’s a misunderstood genius."
"She’s not wrong," Claire murmured.
They reached the private executive floor. The doors hissed open to reveal Julian Thorne standing in the middle of the hallway, flanked by two men in dark suits—security consultants.
"Claire," Julian said, his voice dripping with false concern. "We were just about to head to your office. We’ve had a… discovery."
Claire felt her grip tighten on the joystick of her chair. "A discovery, Julian?"
Julian nodded to one of the security guards, who held up a tablet. "It seems our internal network has been accessed by a ghost account. An account that has been bypassing firewalls to reroute proprietary algorithms to an external server. And do you know whose access codes were used?"
He turned the tablet screen toward her. It showed Mason Reed’s employee badge number.
"I didn't," Mason started, his voice steady but his hands trembling. "I haven't touched a terminal outside of the server room. I’ve only been working on the physical hardware."
"The logs don't lie, Mason," Julian said, his eyes flicking to Claire with predatory triumph. "And, unfortunately, the person who signed off on your elevated clearance—without a proper background check, might I add—is now complicit in a major security breach."
Claire looked at the screen. It was a digital frame-up, crude but effective. Julian was moving to force her out, and he was using the one thing that had brought her back to life—her decision to help a man and his daughter—as the weapon to destroy her.
"This is a forgery," Claire said, her voice ice-cold.
"The board meets in an hour, Claire," Julian said, checking his watch. "You can come, or we can have the police escort you out. I suggest you choose the former."
He walked away, leaving them in the silent, sterile hall.
Mason looked at Claire, his face pale. "They’re going to take your company, aren't they?"
May you like
Claire looked at the elevator doors, then back at the server room behind them. She thought of Lucy’s drawing. She thought of the "Tuesday protocol."
"They’re going to try," Claire said, her eyes flashing with a light Julian Thorne had forgotten she possessed. "But Julian forgets one thing about robotics, Mason. He thinks he’s the programmer. He hasn't realized yet that the system has learned how to protect itself."
