The Aegis was a revolutionary security protocol, a digital fortress so complex that governments and high-level financial institutions paid Vance-Aegis nine-figure sums to protect their data. It was Anna’s crown jewel. But more than that, it was the last tangible piece of her son. Thomas, a genius who could build digital worlds but could not find peace in the real one, had taken his own life six years ago.

Since then, Anna had become cold, driven, and fiercely protective of his work. Her grief had calcified, hardening her, isolating her. The Aegis code wasn’t just software; it was a memorial. And she would not allow a single line of it to be sullied, questioned, or broken.

Tonight, the pressure was immense. A major government contract—the largest in the company’s history—was on the line. It required a final, exhaustive security review. Anna had been staring at lines of code for twelve hours, her eyes burning, her patience worn to a razor’s edge. It was 9:00 PM. The building was silent, save for the hum of the servers and the distant, rhythmic buffing of the terrazzo floors in the hall.