“How could she just disappear like that?” Shirley was at a loss, anxiety twisting in her chest. She never imagined that the deeper they went with upgrading Resonance AI, the more out of control everything would get.
Without someone to back her up, she honestly doubted she could finish the system upgrade on her own.
A car pulled into the underground garage, and Shirley quickly smoothed her expression, replacing her worry with a practiced, sweet smile as she waited by the elevator.
A few moments later, Waldo stepped out, looking completely worn out.
“You’re home!” Shirley hurried over and wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice full of warmth. “Must’ve been a tough day.”
Waldo reached up and gently removed her hands. “Why are you back so early? Did you fix all those issues at work?”
The excitement in Shirley’s eyes faded. Of course, the first thing Waldo asked about was work.
She forced herself to sound steady. “Most of it’s done. There are just a couple of small bugs left, but they won’t affect the system. Really.”
Waldo turned to look at her, his gaze serious. “You told me before that Resonance AI could outdo Nexus Dynamics’s Zero System. You weren’t exaggerating, were you?”
Shirley hesitated for a second before answering, confidence returning to her voice. “Resonance AI’s the smartest system out there right now. It can learn, grow, optimize itself... In theory, it should be able to beat anything else on the market.”
She let out a quiet sigh. “But it’s still early days. It just needs a little more time.”
Waldo studied her, his eyes sharp, but in the end he seemed to let it go. “I hope you’re right. We’ve thrown everything at this project. Don’t let me down.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered,” Shirley said, looping her arm through his and pouting a little. “You know, you should care about more than just work. What about your wife?”
Waldo looked even more tired. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m exhausted. I’m going upstairs to rest.”
“I’ll come with you,” Shirley said, trailing after him.
She thought maybe tonight, they’d finally be close again, but Waldo just crashed onto the bed and was out cold in seconds.


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