Chapter 4

I said nothing, and that only encouraged him.

"Victor is willing to give you another chance. You should appreciate it."

Then he smiled. "Although even if you stay, I don't think you're suitable to remain technical lead."

I looked at him. "What position do you think suits me?"

"Regular engineer. You can stay under performance review." He waved toward my resignation letter. "Or take that and get out."

"Idiot."

The word slipped out before I could stop it, and Derek's face changed. "What did you say?"

I stopped acknowledging him and looked at Victor. "Please sign the resignation. If you refuse, I'll take it to the labor board."

Did they really think nobody else wanted me? I had messages from several recruiters sitting in my inbox. I'd ignored them because I thought this company still had room for me, and because I'd believed Victor trusted me. Apparently I'd been wrong about both the company and the man.

Victor studied me, then sighed dramatically. "If you're determined to ignore advice, I can't force you to stay."

He signed. "Make sure you hand the project over properly. Helix is basically finished anyway."

Then he smiled in a way I suddenly found unbearable. "Still, I should thank you. This one should generate at least tens of millions for us. If it scales well, maybe hundreds of millions."

He wanted me to hear it. He wanted me to know that everything I'd spent two years building was about to start paying out, and that he'd be the one collecting.

I gave a short laugh and walked out.

I completed a basic handover, then headed downstairs. Several coworkers walked me to the lobby, and one of them quietly told me something I hadn't known.

Derek was Victor's brother-in-law.

That explained quite a lot. It also no longer mattered.

Outside, I made a call. Aaron Whitfield answered almost immediately. "Ethan? You finally called me. Did you change your mind?"

"Yes. When can I start?"

He paused. Even through the phone, he could hear something was wrong. "That fast? What happened over there?"

"Do you want me or not? If not, I'll call someone else."

He panicked. "What are you talking about? Of course we want you. You're one of the best AI people in the industry. Start tomorrow. Double your current salary."

"Done."

I hung up and went home.

Three days later, Meridian held its press event for the platform I'd led. Helix went live in front of reporters, investors, clients, and more than a hundred thousand online viewers.

Victor stood onstage introducing the model. He'd spent weeks promoting it as revolutionary, a full generation ahead of anything else on the market.

Then the demo started, and the model threw an error.

Victor's smile stiffened. He called engineers onto the stage, they tried to fix it, and nothing worked. The longer they struggled, the worse the system behaved, until Helix was producing incoherent answers.

The live chat turned vicious.

"This is AI?"

"More like artificial stupidity."

"They called this revolutionary?"

"Sure. Revolutionary incompetence."

I watched the livestream from my new office. Victor was sweating through his shirt. Finally he pulled out his phone.

A moment later, mine rang. His name appeared on the screen.

I considered ignoring it. Then I answered.

"Ethan." Victor's voice was urgent. "Where are you? I need you here immediately."

His tone slid back into the old habit of command.

"Come back right now."