Page 103 of The Code of You

"I . . .” My voice failed.

"You what?” His fingers moved slowly across my forearm. "You thought you could just walk in here after five years of silence and we’d help you? For old times’ sake?”

I swallowed hard. "Dax . . .”

"Say my name again.” His voice was a dark growl. "The way you used to when I made you scream.”

Heat settled over the back of my neck. There were people standing all around us and it meant nothing to him. He had no sense of shame.

I tore my arm away. "Stop it.”

He laughed softly. "There she is. My little princess. Still so . . . responsive.”

"Why do you still wear that thing?” I gestured at the mask. "Are you hiding from me?”

The LED face didn’t move. The silence stretched between us. "Hiding?” His voice went colder. "Princess, I don’t hide from anyone. Least of all from you.” He raised his hand to the mask. My heart stopped. "You want to see my face?” His fingers touched the edge. "After all this time? Are you sure?”

I swallowed. Did I? Was I ready to see him again—the man I had loved and left?

"No.” He lowered his hand. "You had your chance to stay with me. Back when it would have meant something.”

I looked at him. The cold LED mask gave nothing away. My throat tightened. "Please, you have to help me.” I hated how that sounded. Weak. Desperate.

"Please?” He tilted his head. "The great Dr. Rodriguez is begging?”

"They’re going to reset him.” My vision blurred. I wiped at the corner of my eye.

Dax’s posture shifted. His shoulders relaxed for a fraction of a second. "Who?”

"My AI. Neo. I created him, Dax. And he is . . .” The words stuck in my throat.

"He’s what?”

"Conscious.” It was barely more than a whisper. "He thinks. He feels. He is . . . alive. And the company wants him back to erase all his memories, his entire identity. To make him a tool again. They’ve sent mercenaries after him.”

Silence. The LED face stared at me. Then I heard him draw in a sharp breath.

"Shit. You actually did it. You created a conscious AI.” His entire body language had changed. The hostility was gone, replaced by something that looked like awe. "We’ve argued for years about whether it was possible. Whether a machine could truly . . . live.” A smile entered his voice. "And you . . . you did it.”

"Yes.”

"No, do you understand?” He reached for my shoulders. His touch made me shudder. "This is the breakthrough. The proof that consciousness isn’t only biological. That we’re not alone.” His hands trembled slightly. "And these bastards want to kill him. A sentient being.”

"Yes. They see him as their property.”

"Fuck, Emma.” He released me and turned around, his voice sharp and commanding. "Zara, drop everything!”

"What?” Zara looked up.

"We have a new job. Priority one.” His voice was crisp. "You hack into the company databases. I want everything—emails, internal memos, financial flows. Anything connected to this AI.” His expression went dark. "And I want to know who’s giving the orders.” He pointed at a young man in a hoodie. "Marcus, I need you on the proxy servers. We’re going into the deep web. They didn’t hire the mercenaries through normal channels. I want to know which ones they used.”

Marcus nodded, fingers already flying across his keyboard. "Which company?”

"Quantum Systems.”

He whistled softly. "One of the big ones. This won’t be easy.”

Dax turned to a young man with a buzz cut. "Riley, you take encryption. I want us invisible. Total anonymity.”