It was a month after the first visit when Ethan turned up unannounced at Adam and Sophia’s office, with his robot in tow as usual. The company was now officially named Stipe StemCore Systems, and a newly installed neon-blue chrome sign gleamed outside, bouncing prisms of sunlight across the street.

  Thanks to a hefty bug bounty and a surge of investment in their robotics, the once-doomed startup had roared back to life—making Sophia and Adam billionaires. At least on paper.

  Ethan and Adam were alone in the junkyard lab, save for Rab, the towering bodyguard robot.

  “I’d like you to retrofit Rab,” Ethan said casually. “Change him to a lady. Beautiful. Professional-looking. Not intimidating—but still physically striking. Can you do that?”

  Adam nodded. He already knew the answer would be yes. Ethan was the majority shareholder, after all.

  “And I want to use these stem cells as the brain,” Ethan added, pulling out a sleek alloy case about the size of a wallet. A soft green LED pulsed on the top, indicating it was powered and active.

  Adam took it, hesitating slightly, already guessing what was inside.

  “The stem cells... the donor agreed and signed the contract?” he asked.

  Ethan smiled. “Of course. I sent you the documentation. They’re from a lovely, intelligent, emotionally stable human—just in case you were worried about it going rogue.”

  Adam raised an eyebrow. “They’re yours, aren’t they?”

  Ethan laughed. “Yes, they are. So be careful with them—they’re worth a lot. I’d hate for my genius to end up in the wrong hands.”

  Adam nodded solemnly. “There’s something I need to tell you first. What we’re doing... it’s not strictly legal. We’re not just growing a few cells.”

  “You’re cloning partial brains,” Ethan interrupted. “I know. Illegal here on Earth—but it’s not for Earth. It’s for Mars.”

  “But the cloning laws are the same—Earth or Mars.”

  “Says who?” Ethan replied with a sharp edge. “It shouldn’t be up to them to make our laws.”

  Adam was taken aback but decided not to argue. He preferred not to hear any more. Instead, he turned his attention to the robot.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “This... is it an Aegis X? The Shield of Zeus?” he asked, inspecting its frame.

  “It is indeed,” Ethan said, grinning. “You know your robots—and your Greek mythology. This one’s specially customized. Has features you won’t find in the standard model.”

  “My dad’s into Greek mythology,” Adam said. “So’s my brother. Alex—short for Alexander the Great. He’s been obsessed ever since he found out we’ve got Greek heritage.”

  “I thought you were Jewish—Goldberg and all?” Ethan asked.

  “Everyone’s a mix these days,” Adam replied. “You’re Scottish with Croatian and Indian blood, right?”

  Ethan smiled. “Chinese too. And Arabic. And like all of us, African—if you go far back enough.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said. “We’re all made from the same stuff. Doesn’t stop us fighting over differences, though.”

  Ethan nodded. “Anyway, when do you think it’ll be ready? I’m heading back to Mars in a month.”

  Adam scratched his head. “We can get most of it done in time—except the skin. We’ll need to grow a fresh batch. Custom-fit. For... him? Her? It?”

  “It’s non-binary,” Ethan said, then paused. “Well… technically the opposite. That was a terrible joke. Please pretend I didn’t say that.”

  Adam smiled. He actually liked Ethan. He wasn’t sure why he’d expected not to.

  “We’ll keep the combat functions,” Adam said. “Upgrade the AI with the latest patches. Grow the skin. I’ve rewritten the brain algorithm—it learns like a human, just... a lot faster. So maybe treat it with a little kindness.”

  “Perfect,” Ethan said. “And the offer still stands. If you and Sophia want to come out—or even just visit. Things are going to get ugly down here. He paused. “Where is she, by the way?”

  “She’s on holiday,” Adam replied smoothly. “She’s been putting in a lot of hours.”

  But she wasn’t on holiday. She was on the Moon, picking out her cryogenic tomb. Then she’d return to Earth for treatment. She’d asked Adam not to say anything. She wanted to tell Ethan herself—when she was ready.

  “There’s one more thing,” Ethan said. “I need the code. And the blueprints—biological and digital.”

  Adam froze for half a second, then walked over to the console. He inserted a drive and started the download. Ethan watched the progress bar like a kid waiting for Christmas.

  When the files finished, Adam held the drive in his hand and hesitated.

  “It’s still a prototype, alright?” he said. “Be careful if you’re going to experiment. The code’s stable—it’s safe—but I’m not as deep on the bio side. Sophia reviewed it and gave the green light. Just... maybe don’t tell her I gave you a copy. It’s still her baby. She’s under a lot of pressure.”

  Ethan took the drive gently. “You know I run the biggest robotics company on Earth, right? I think I’ve got it covered.”

  Adam flushed. “Yeah. I know. Sorry. It’s just... this one’s different.”

  “Will it go sentient?” Ethan asked casually.

  “No,” Adam said. Then again, more firmly, “No. I don’t think so. But it’s... a new beast.”

  “How many prototypes to get here?” Ethan asked, lifting the drive to eye level like a sacred relic.

  Adam squinted. “Probably version one thousand... give or take. Why do you ask?”

  Ethan grinned. “As long as it’s not version six-six-six, we’re in the clear.”

  He slipped the drive into the inner pocket of his coat, the fabric folding over it like a secret.

  Adam watched him go, the metallic hum of the lab suddenly louder, more ominous.

  He had just handed Ethan the keys to a new kind of mind—

  and something told him there was no turning back.