I headed out of the hotel, keys to the AMG One spinning around my finger, riding that very specific satisfaction that came from turning a rival into an employee and queuing up an international news disaster scheduled to detonate in six hours.

Good fucking day so far.

I slid into the driver's seat and brought the engine to life, the sound vibrating straight through reason and into instinct, the kind of mechanical growl that reminded you physics was more of a suggestion than a rule if you had enough money and poor impulse control.

Now all I had to do was wait on IHIN's timeline. Six hours until the story broke. Six hours until the world found out Dmitri had died mysteriously in CIA custody and international relations got very fucking complicated very fucking fast.

How I'd met IHIN—the anonymous journalist collective that made governments sweat and careers evaporate—was a story for another time. One involving a trafficking network, encrypted channels, and a favor I'd done without asking for a damn thing in return.

Right now, everything was already in motion. Helena was on board. IHIN had the documentation. The CIA was about to have a catastrophic day, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it except sit back and let gravity handle the rest.

I checked my watch. 2:47 PM. The Ashley plan was locked for tonight—8 PM, at a location I'd spent weeks preparing down to the centimeter. That left me with five hours of empty time.

Perfect.

I'd been meaning to drive out to the new mansion anyway. Hadn't seen it in person yet—

"ARIA," I said, pulling out of the hotel parking lot. "Map route to the new property."

[Master—]

That wasn't ARIA.

That was Taboo.

And she sounded… nervous?

[Master, wait—]

And that was Dark Seduction.

Also, hesitant.

Both of them. Speaking at the same time. Cutting ARIA off before she could even respond.

What the fuck?

"Okay," I said slowly, easing to a stop at a red light. "What's going on? Why do both of you sound like I just asked to launch nuclear weapons instead of visit a house?"

[It's better if you wait,] Dark Seduction said carefully. [For the Charlotte mission completion. The public announcement. Before you visit the mansion.]

[Yeah!] Taboo jumped in, her usual chaos replaced with something dangerously close to concern. [We're not saying DON'T go. We're just saying… maybe wait? Like, just a little? Until after the news breaks and the system confirms mission completion and you get your rewards and—]

"Why?" I cut her off. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't drive to a house I own and look at property I bought for my family."

Silence.

Long enough that ARIA spoke up, confused. "Master, I'm… also unclear on their reaction. There are no security concerns. The property is fully secured. No threats detected. I don't understand why they're advising delay."

[We can't tell you why,] Dark Seduction said, and her tone carried that unmistakable weight of someone sitting on information they were absolutely forbidden to share. [But we strongly recommend waiting until after mission completion. Trust us.]

I sat there at the green light, some impatient asshole behind me laying on the horn, trying to process the fact that my system personalities were telling me no and refusing to explain themselves.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked.

[No!] Both of them answered instantly.

"Is something wrong with the house?"

[No,] Dark Seduction replied. [The property is flawless. Everything you wanted. But the timing matters, Master. Please. Just wait until tonight. After the news breaks. After the system confirms mission completion. Then you can visit.]

I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel.

This was weird. This was really fucking weird. My system girls didn't care about timing unless there were mechanics involved—unless something about mission completion directly affected—

Oh.

"Is this about rewards?" I asked. "Is there something about the Charlotte mission rewards that connects to the mansion?"

[…]

The silence was answer enough.

"Fine," I said, rolling forward as the asshole behind me leaned on his horn again. "I'll wait. But you're both explaining this later."

[Thank you, Master!] Taboo said, audibly relieved. [You're gonna be so happy you waited, I promise!]

"I'm holding you to that," I muttered.

"Where to, Master?" ARIA asked, clearly entertained by the whole exchange.

"Drive," I said. "Let me think first."

I merged onto the highway and let the AMG One stretch its legs, acceleration pinning me back as LA traffic blurred past in its usual beautiful disaster—too many cars, not enough road, and just enough chaos to feel like home.

And then I noticed them.

The billboards.

Every single fucking one of them.

AR.NuN!

The first one was massive—probably forty feet across—showing Charlotte and Tommy standing side by side in that perfectly staged photo they'd used for the launch campaign. Charlotte in her CEO power suit, Tommy in his "genius developer" aesthetic. Behind them, the AR.NuN logo glowing blue, with text that read:

"AR.NuN: The AI That Actually Works"

I'd seen that billboard before. Seen it a hundred times since launch three weeks ago. It was impossible to avoid—Quantum Tech had bought advertising space on every major highway, every downtown street, every high-traffic area in the city and even other states too and each one that belonged to Rivera Media.

But it was the next billboard that made me actually slow down and stare.

Not an AR.NuN advertisement.

A news report.

"AR.NuN Contributes 1% to Human Evolution in Less Than One Month"

Below the headline, smaller text:

"Independent analysis confirms Quantum Tech's AI has measurably advanced human capability across multiple sectors. First technology in history to achieve quantifiable species-level impact in under 30 days."

One percent.

I let that number sink in while I drove.

One fucking percent of human evolutionary advancement. From a single product. In less than a month.

The next billboard expanded on it:

"What Does 1% Evolution Mean?"

"1% = reducing global medical diagnostic errors by 73%!

1% = saving 847 lives in month one thanks to early disease detection!

1% = adding 2.3 hours to every user's productive day!

1% = preventing $47 billion in economic losses from predictive financial analysis"

Another billboard, this one showing a graph that looked like a fucking hockey stick:

"AR.NuN vs. Every Other AI Combined"

The graph showed competitor AIs—ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, all the big names—clustered together at the bottom. Maybe contributing 0.2% collectively to human advancement.

AR.NuN was a vertical line shooting past all of them. 1.0% in month one. Projected 1.4% by month two. 2.1% by month three.

The graph's title: "It's Not Even Close"

I passed another billboard showing sector-by-sector breakdown:

"AR.NuN's Contribution By Industry"

Healthcare: 0.31%

Q-Med chips: Deployed across 9,400 hospitals in 73 countries; ICU death reduction: 40% improvement = estimated 15,000-18,000 lives saved monthly.

Early disease detection: ~380,000 users referred to doctors for undiagnosed conditions per month

Early Cancer detection: 15% improvement in early diagnosis rates across Q-Med facilities

Diagnostic accuracy: 73% reduction in misdiagnosis where Q-Med is deployed

Drug research: 340+ pharmaceutical companies report 40% faster molecular analysis

Mental health: ~89,000 depression/anxiety cases identified early through voice pattern analysis.

Projected monthly impact if sustained: $42 billion in healthcare cost savings

Finance: 0.19%

Q-Fin chips: 1,847 financial institutions across 54 countries. Market stability: 8 potential crashes identified and mitigated = estimated $68 billion in prevented losses. Fraud prevention: ~$9.7 billion in detected fraud per month.

Trading efficiency: 18% improvement in institutional performance.

Personal finance: 267 million users saving average $178/month = estimated $47.5 billion monthly savings. Small business: 3.2 million businesses report average 23% cost reduction. Projected monthly impact if sustained: $125 billion in financial optimization.

Education: 0.14%

Active student users: 184 million globally (12% of world's students, 68% penetration in developed nations)

Study efficiency: Coursework completed 34% faster on average

Research acceleration: ~47,000 academic papers completed monthly with AR.NuN assistance

Accessibility breakthrough: 8.9 million students with learning disabilities report significant improvement

Language learning: Users achieving conversational fluency 3x faster than traditional methods

Teacher efficiency: 2.8 million teachers report 40% reduction in administrative work

Projected monthly impact: Knowledge acquisition accelerated by estimated 40% in user base and new discoveries by 30%

Productivity: 0.18%

Global active users: 267 million.

Time saved per user: 2.3 hours daily average

Daily time saved: 614 million human hours

Weekly time saved: 4.3 billion human hours

Monthly time saved: 18.4 billion human hours

Economic equivalent: Adding ~7.6 million full-time workers to global economy

Email/scheduling: 67% reduction in time spent on administrative tasks

Decision quality: AI-assisted decisions showing 34% improvement in accuracy

Projected monthly impact if sustained: $277 billion in productivity value

Agriculture & Food Production: 0.06%

Farms using AR.NuN: 890,000 globally (concentrated in developed agricultural regions)

Crop yield: 12-15% improvement in adopting farms

Water conservation: Estimated 89 billion gallons saved monthly through optimized irrigation

Food waste reduction: 28% decrease in supply chain waste

Livestock health: Disease prediction preventing estimated 890,000 animal deaths monthly

Projected monthly impact: Food production efficiency equivalent to feeding additional 34 million people

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