Chapter 163

No.1

The private medical room in the west wing of Dr.Blevins's estate smelled sharply of rubbing alcohol and sterile gauze.

Elisa lay face down on the padded examination table.Her hands gripped the metal edges of the table so hard her knuckles were completely white.

Dr. Blevins stood over her, wearing blue nitrile gloves.His face was set in deep, worried lines. He pressed his thumbs gently along the inflamed skin of her lower back.

Elisa squeezed her eyes shut. A sharp, electric jolt of pain shot down her sciatic nerve. She bit down hard on her lower lip to trap the scream in her throat.

A drop of fresh blood welled up on her lip, sliding down her pale chin and soaking into the crisp white paper covering the table.

Alastair stood by the door, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. His jaw was locked, the muscles

ticking erratically as he watched her suffer.

No.2

Dr. Blevins stepped back and pulled off his gloves with a sharp snap.

"The L4 and L5 discs are severely compressed," the older man said, his voice heavy with frustration. "The impact tore the scar tissue from your previous injury.You are millimeters away from a herniation that would require immediate surgery."

He walked over to the stainless steel sink and washed his hands.

"You are to remain flat on your back in bed for the next two weeks. No walking, no sitting, no working.Absolute rest. I will prescribe a heavy course of anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants."

Elisa opened her eyes. She took a shallow breath,testing the limits of the pain. She planted her hands on the table and slowly, agonizingly, pushed her upper body off the mat.

Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her arms shook violently.

"I can't rest," Elisa said. Her voice was weak, but the

No.3

tone was made of iron. "The data integration for the joint project is in its final stage. We launch the beta test in three days."①

Dr. Blevins slammed his hand down on the counter.The metal instruments rattled in their trays.

"Damn the project!" he roared, his grandfatherly demeanor vanishing. "You have one spine, Elisa! If that disc ruptures, you could lose motor function in your legs. Is a piece of software worth a wheelchair?"

Elisa slowly turned her head to look at him.

."If I stop now," she said, her breathing shallow and fast, "Allena will use her position as clinical director to seize control of the testing phase. She will lock me out of my own architecture."

She shifted her gaze to Alastair.

"You know what they are doing," Elisa said to him."The fake compliance audit Vanguard initiated last week was just the first step. They are trying to steal the core algorithms of Project Chiron. They want to strip it down, patent the pieces under Vanguard, and leave Aethel with an empty shell."

No.4

Alastair uncrossed his arms. He walked over to the table, his expression grim. He nodded slowly.

"She's right, Gottlieb," Alastair said quietly."Browning Venture Capital is pouring money into Vanguard's legal team. They are preparing a hostile intellectual property claim. If Elisa isn't there to physically secure the final code compile, they might find a backdoor."

Elisa looked back at her mentor. "I built this. I survived seven years of hell to get to this point.I will not let them take it from me at the finish line."

Dr. Blevins stared at her. He saw the stubborn,terrifying fire burning in her eyes. It was a fire that could not be put out with medical logic. He sighed,a long,defeated sound.

He walked over to a tall medical supply cabinet and unlocked it. He reached inside and pulled out a heavy,rigid object.

It was a custom-molded spinal orthosis. It was constructed of thick black carbon fiber, lined with dense medical foam, and reinforced with steel struts.

He carried it over and set it on the table next to her.

No.5

"This is going to feel like a medieval torture device,"Dr. Blevins said coldly. "'It will restrict your breathing.It will dig into your ribs. It will make every movement miserable. But it will lock your lumbar spine in place and keep the discs from collapsing entirely."

Alastair stepped forward. "Let me help."

Elisa sat up fully, biting back a groan. Alastair gently guided the heavy back piece into place.He brought the front panel around her ribs and began to pull the thick Velcro straps tight.

As the rigid brace clamped down around her torso,Elisa's face drained of all color. The pressure was immense, squeezing her injured spine into a forced,unnatural alignment. She gasped, her hands flying to the edges of the plastic shell.

"Tighter," Dr. Blevins ordered.

Alastair pulled the straps until the Velcro shrieked.

Elisa closed her eyes and waited for the nausea to pass. She slowly slid her legs off the table and placed her feet on the floor. She stood up.

No.6

She felt like she was encased in concrete. She could

not bend, could not twist. Every step she took sent a dull, throbbing ache radiating through her pelvis, but her spine remained perfectly straight.

Dr. Blevins walked up to her. He placed his large hands on her rigid shoulders.

"Listen to me," the old man said, his voice dropping to a low, intense rumble. "Never show weakness to capital. Capital is a predator. It smells blood and it tears the weak to pieces."

He looked deeply into her eyes. "You are walking into a war zone. Do not be the meat on the cutting board,Elisa.Be the butcher holding the knife."

Elisa took a shallow, restricted breath against the tight foam of the brace. She pushed the physical agony deep down into a dark box in her mind and locked it.

"I will," she promised.

No.7

She turned her head and looked out the small window of the clinic. The sun had set, leaving the grounds in absolute darkness.

Alastair picked up her dark, oversized wool sweater

from a chair. He draped it carefully over her shoulders, helping her pull it down to conceal the bulky medical armor strapped to her body.

She walked toward the door. Her movements were stiff'and slow, but her posture was flawless. She was ready to return to the city.