Leo’s late-night searches continued for days. I’d see the light from his room spilling into the hallway, hear the low murmur of his thoughts as he navigated databases and archives. His focus was always intense, but now it carried a new, almost urgent undercurrent.
One evening, I found him hunched over his laptop, his eyes wide with a quiet intensity. He held a tablet in his other hand, scrolling through something rapidly.
“Mom,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, “you remember Alistair Finch, right?”
My stomach tightened, but I kept my face neutral. “Of course. He was… my mentor, at InnovateCorp.”
“Well, I was looking into some old corporate filings, trying to find any patterns in executive behavior, specifically around intellectual property disputes,” Leo explained, his fingers flying across the trackpad. “And I found something. It’s an internal memo.”
He turned the laptop screen towards me. It was a faded, digital document, dated nearly a decade ago, predating the Orion Protocol’s development. The header read: “Internal Strategy Brief: Talent Acquisition and Innovation Streamlining.” The author: Alistair Finch.
My heart began to pound. This was something new, something deeper than I had ever suspected. The personal cruelty of its cold, corporate language was immediate and profound.
“Read this section,” Leo urged, pointing to a highlighted paragraph.
The text was a chilling blueprint: “To ensure InnovateCorp maintains its competitive edge, we must proactively identify and integrate ‘under-utilized’ innovations from junior staff. These individuals, often highly skilled but less assertive in navigating corporate structures, represent a significant, untapped resource. Strategic mentorship programs can facilitate the legal acquisition of their intellectual contributions, ensuring maximum value for the company.”
My eyes scanned the words, a cold dread spreading through me. “Less assertive in navigating corporate structures.” That was me. That was exactly how he saw me.
Then, buried in a bulleted list of “Potential Candidates for Mentorship – Phase 1,” my own name appeared. “Elara Bellamy – Senior Software Engineer (Orion Project Lead).”
The room spun. My name. Right there. The Orion project wasn’t even fully conceived then, just a nascent idea I was excitedly sketching out.
“He identified you,” Leo said, his voice heavy. “Years before Orion was even a thing. He saw you as a target, Mom. Not a mentee.”
My breath caught in my throat. This wasn’t just opportunistic theft driven by ambition. This was a calculated, premeditated plan. He had scoped me out, studied my quiet nature, and marked me for acquisition from the very beginning of my career at InnovateCorp. The betrayal, already deep, now felt like an abyss. It wasn’t just a stolen algorithm; it was a stolen future, systematically planned before I even walked through the company doors.
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