Page 122 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

That gets my full attention. “In what way?”

She taps her tablet, sending a series of logs to the screen. “Intermittent fault detection failure in the predictive layer. It’s not consistent, but it’s present.”

Jeffrey leans forward. “How present?”

“Enough that I wouldn’t risk a live demonstration without addressing it.”

That’s not acceptable.

I stand, moving closer to the screen. The data scrolls in clean, unforgiving lines. Inputs, responses, deviations. Small inconsistencies, but enough to matter.

Enough to fail.

“No,” I say quietly. “That shouldn’t be happening anymore.”

“It is,” Sara replies.

I scan the sequence again, faster this time. The architecture is sound. It has to be. Every layer has been tested, refined, stripped down, and rebuilt where necessary.

This system isn't optional; it’s the entire point.

“The correction logic is lagging,” Jeffrey says. “By milliseconds, but still?—”

“I see it.”

Milliseconds are the difference between adjustment and impact, between recovery and loss, between…

I stop that line of thought before it completes itself.

“Get me the latest build,” I say. “Full diagnostics. I want every iteration since the last stable version.”

“It’s already on your system,” Sara says.

Of course it is. “Good.”

The meeting dissolves shortly after that. Sara leaves to coordinate the technical team. Jeffrey remains just long enough to confirm I’m not about to ignore food or sleep in favor of solving this immediately.

“I’ll manage it,” I tell him.

“I know,” he says. “That’s not what I’m asking.”

I don’t respond.

He studies me, then lets it go. “Try not to destroy anyone on your way through it.”

“No promises.”

He smiles faintly. “There it is.”

When he leaves, the office is quiet again.

I return to my desk, pull up the system logs, and begin isolating variables. Inputs, outputs, inconsistencies. It should be enough to occupy my attention fully.

It isn’t.

Because under the structure, under the code, under the controlled sequence of problem and solution, there’s more running in parallel.

Addy… us, the fact that we can’t seem to keep our hands off of one another no matter what’s at risk.