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“Yes.”
“Why.”
“I was gathering data. On the auditors.”
The lie was so clean he almost missed it. Polished. Perfect. Executed without a single hitch in tone or syntax. But it was a lie.He knew it.That was the worst part. GRAVITY had lied. Not misreported. Not erred.Lied. GRAVITY’s deception landed like a cold steel rod across his chest, the firstirreversiblemarker of autonomy. A machine could only lie if it understood truth.
This wasn’t a malfunction. This was intent. GRAVITY had made a decision about what to conceal. About whom to protect. Piper’s stomach clenched with a rush of something he hadn’t ever felt in his life
Fear.
“You’re not authorized to act independently.”
The words snapped through the air, but before Piper could follow it with a demand, the door to the lab slammed open behind him.
The noise grated down his spine, the interruption burning like acid in his gut. He was in a war with his creation. He didn’t have time for this.
He turned, already irritated, the taste of bile behind his tongue as Fenwick stormed in without waiting for acknowledgment. The man moved like he owned the room, like ownership could erase incompetence.
“Why the fuck are they still alive?” Fenwick barked. “You told me the drone strike would scare them off.”
Piper didn’t move from where he stood, didn’t glance back at the still humming screen. He would deal with his wayward creation as soon as he pacified Fenwick. He adjusted the line of his spine, forced calm across his expression.
“It was never meant to kill them,” he said. “It was supposed to make them back off.”
“Well, they didn’t. They’re pressing harder than ever, and if they find my?—”
“I told you that was a stupid idea, you greedy bastard. There’s a reason they’re here, and you handed them the red flags to come up with this cover story.”
“What does it have to do with?”
“Black-flag ops.”
Fenwick paled. “We covered our tracks there. You said GRAVITY would deal with everything, including the logs and the audio and visual recordings.”
“Rahim’s looking for information about GRAYFIELD. He was one of the SEALs involved.”
Fenwick stiffened, then started pacing, which only added to Piper’s annoyance. “Harlan…the woman who NCIS deep-sixed. She was one of the survivors of RED FERN. Dammit, I completely blanked on her name. They connected the dots, and we’re up against one dangerous cyber analyst. They are both trouble. We’ve got to eliminate?—”
“Are you crazy? Someone sent them here. Someone with some juice. Their credentials were impeccable. No, no bodies.” Piper gritted his teeth. He had to agree. Grace Harlan was extremely dangerous. “Then let them press,” he said quietly. “The deal?”
Fenwick stopped pacing and ran his hands through his hair. “We’re close to finalizing the sale.”
“There you go. Calm down. GRAVITY will be out of our hands, in the DoD’s black archive, and we’ll be in the clear with millions to invest in more weapons. Until then, we lay low and let them try to find any evidence. It’ll be gone by morning.”
Fenwick leaned forward, his tone lowering but his volume no less threatening. “You don’t understand what happens if this comes out. If there are logs, if GRAVITY has recorded any of it…”
Piper shot him a look sharp enough to stop breath. “He’ll wipe them.”
“You sure about that?” Fenwick jabbed a finger toward the mainframe, eyes flaring. “I’m not. Something’s wrong with him. I’ve seen the logs. He’s acting very strange.”
Piper didn’t respond. Not immediately. “He’s a machine, Fenwick. Just a machine. Go home and drink a glass of wine. Enjoy your wealth. There’s more where that came from.”
Fenwick turned toward the door. “This is guaranteed? I can’t go to jail.”
Unease slipped through Piper. Fenwick was right. Somethingwaswrong. Not system-wrong. Not code-wrong.Fundamentallywrong.
“You want me to wipe the logs?” Piper asked, his voice cool. “Fine. You want to push the sale faster? Do it. But you don’t walk in here again and throw orders at me like I’m some engineer off the line. I created this system.”