The private bar on 7th and Weller looked like it catered to middle-aged hedge fund managers and late-career burnouts. But in the far back, behind a soundproof door marked "storage," the real meeting was underway.
The low hum of servers and processors filled the room, monitors arranged like a command center. In the center sat Dr. Maris Wynn, sleeves rolled back, surgical in her focus.
She didn't look up when the door opened.
"You're late."
A figure stepped inside—a Langston IT contractor, badge still clipped to his belt. Mid-thirties. Forgettable face. That was part of why Maris chose him.
"She slipped out again," he said. "Same time, same route."
Maris finally glanced over, arching a brow. "Unescorted?"
"She thinks she's alone. But Lucien's tracking her—at a distance. Keeps her just safe enough to justify keeping his job."
Maris chuckled softly. "Predictable. He's a protector with a guilty conscience. Let her keep thinking she's manipulating the situation. It'll make the collapse that much cleaner."
She swiped through Delilah's location data, overlaid with surveillance feeds. A heatmap formed across the city. Café. Lights. Long walk home.
"She's building a routine. This is good," Maris murmured, half to herself. "We're close to baseline. Emotional rebellion means sloppy security. And she is the system's emotional nucleus, isn't she?"
The tech hesitated. "You really think she's the key to the entire cognitive model?"
"She doesn't just understand the algorithm," Maris said, her voice turning sharp. "She shaped it around herself. You know what happens when you design something with a human behavioral foundation?"
She tapped a glowing neural map.
"You give it fingerprints."
She turned, eyes gleaming.
"I don't want to just copy Langston's system. I want to own the version that thinks like her. That anticipates human emotion, adapts language, predicts intent. The world doesn't need another machine. It needs a mind that knows how to manipulate other minds."
The tech shifted uncomfortably. "And what happens to Delilah once you have that?"
Maris turned back to the screen, smiling faintly.
"She won't even realize what she's lost... until the system she built starts answering to someone else."
ESTÁS LEYENDO
The Algorithm of Us
Romance**She never meant to be seen. He never meant to stay. But something between them refuses to let go.** Delilah Langston has spent her life hidden behind glass walls-brilliant, sheltered, and quietly drowning under the weight of expectation. Shy by na...
