Chapter 6

On the wall-mounted TV in my private suite,

a CNN anchor was delivering a breaking news report.

"The 'Odyssey' autonomous driving system, developed by Croft Industries,

was exposed today for harboring a fatal security backdoor."

"During this morning's rush hour on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco,

dozens of vehicles utilizing the system suffered critical logic failures,

resulting in a multi-car pileup and several devastating collisions.

The current casualty count remains unknown.

The NTSB has reportedly launched a federal investigation..."

I leaned heavily against the soft pillows,

struggling to wipe the blood from my mouth.

The hemolysis was tearing me apart from the inside.

My retinas were detaching, fracturing the world into a doubling blur.

My husband, Julian Croft,

stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling window across the room.

With his back turned to me, he barked into his cell phone.

"Is the entire PR department run by absolute morons?!"

"I don't care how much it costs!

Scrub this off Google and Twitter!

I want it gone in thirty minutes!"

"Find a scapegoat!

Blame the outsourced dev team for a structural bug, fire them all!"

He furiously ripped off his four-figure Hermes tie,

slamming it down onto the sofa like trash.

His precious sister, Chloe,

was curled up in the corner of the couch like a frightened little kitten.

"Julian... I'm so sorry..."

"I just thought the underlying firewall for Odyssey was way too boring...

so I just... added a tiny little backdoor to test its AI limits."

"I thought it would be a fun surprise!

How was I supposed to know they couldn't even drive..."

She pouted, her voice entirely devoid of a single shred of remorse.

Julian's rigid jawline softened.

He walked over and ruffled her perfect flaxen curls.

"It's okay. Shhh. I'm right here."

"Next time, no more reckless little games, alright?"

"The media always blows things wildly out of proportion.

It's just a few fender benders.

The insurance companies will handle everything."

Listening to his casual dismissal,

a violently sick feeling turned my stomach over.

That so-called "little game" probably just destroyed dozens of families.

To him, deadly prank was just another mess to buy off.