The Past is a Foreign Country
Chapter 14
Preview:
“You should talk to her,” Dani said, jerking her head back towards the interrogation room.
“Me? Why-”
“Come on.” Dani grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her, only half-resisting, into the room.
Mia Bruneau’s eyes widened in an even mixture of dread and embarrassment as Dani re-entered the room with Emma. “Oh my God, Hera, I am so sorry,” she said immediately, covering her face with her hands. She was a good five years older than Emma, but everything about her demeanor screamed ‘chastised toddler’. “I know it was the dumbest thing in the world, I know I should have cleared it with Professor Torres first, I just got so excited, we’ve been trying to figure out how to attach anima motes to the AI interface for months now, and I finally-”
“You bound anima to an AI?” Emma interrupted, all apprehension gone. “Directly? How many motes?”
“Uh…” Mia pulled her hands away from her face, clearly confused at the line of questioning. “Three?”
“It only took three to pull that off? That thing was learning! Do you realize, with just a few safety parameters you could completely revolutionize-” Dani raised an exasperated eyebrow at Emma, and Emma caught herself. “Sorry. Not important right now. Um-”
“I know, I know. Whatever you guys do to me is less than I deserve. I can’t believe I put so many people in danger, I can’t believe I built something that had to be defeated by superheroes. What must you two think of me?”
Emma looked at Dani, and Dani looked back at her expectantly. Emma cleared her throat. “Look, you’ll probably get a suspension, but Dani can tell you weren’t trying to hurt anybody and… well, you’re not the only one who’s had a well-intentioned project go completely off the rails. Nobody got hurt, that’s the important thing.”
Mia nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks.”
“And, you know, once all the legal stuff gets cleared up, if you wouldn’t mind a second pair of eyes on your research notes-”
“Emma. Oh my God. Read the room.”
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