Chapter 376
“It’s the thermal expansion on the port-side solar array,” she said, her voice calm and authoritative. “The sun’s radiation is warping the strut by two millimeters. You need to compensate by adjusting the pitch of the internal gyros by zero-point-two degrees.”
Nelson grinned — a feral, triumphant look. He turned to the researcher. “She has been back in this lab for exactly ten seconds and she has fixed the problem you have been agonizing over for three days. Make the adjustment.”
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The researcher scurried away. Nelson gestured for Isolde to follow him into his glass-walled office.
They sat. The hum of the servers vibrated up through the floorboards.
“There is one more thing,” Nelson said, his tone shifting from frantic to measured. “Your daughter. Effie.”
Isolde tensed immediately, her spine going rigid. “What about her?”
“I saw her math competition scores,” Nelson said, leaning back in his chair. “The ones you tried to bury in the public school registry.”
“I don’t want her to be a lab rat, Professor. I want her to have a childhood.”
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“She is not a rat, Isolde,” Nelson said, his voice softening. “She is a hawk. Just like you. You cannot keep a hawk in a cage — even a comfortable one. She will go mad with boredom.”
𝗥е𝘢𝗱 𝗳𝗋𝘦𝘦 𝘯о𝘷𝗲ls 𝗈n 𝗀a𝗹𝘯𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗹𝗌.𝖼om
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “Let me mentor her. Weekends only — logic puzzles and advanced theory. No pressure. No government tests.”
Isolde thought of Effie sitting in her room, staring blankly at first-grade homework she could solve in her sleep.
“One condition,” Isolde said, her voice firm. “No classified government files. Just math. If she gets stressed, we stop.”
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“Deal,” Nelson said without hesitation.
He opened his desk drawer, pulled out a thick contract, and slid it across the desk alongside a heavy black pen. “Sign here. You start Monday.”
Isolde picked up the pen and signed her legal name: Isolde Carson.
Nelson studied the signature, then looked up. “Welcome home, Valkyrie.”
She walked out of the Institute and into the cold city air. A massive, crushing weight lifted from her chest with the first breath she drew outside. She was no longer pretending.
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Her phone buzzed. A notification from Arland:
We got the CloudPath meeting. Carter Sterling is highly interested in the drone tech.
Isolde smiled — a cold, calculating expression. She now had the backing of the federal government through Nelson, and a meeting with the biggest private tech rival in the sector.
She wasn’t just surviving anymore. She was building an army.
She dialed Effie’s school and waited for the voicemail.
“Honey,” she said, her voice going soft. “How would you like to meet a very grumpy wizard this weekend?” She paused, imagining her daughter’s expression. “Yes, baby. He knows everything about non-linear dynamics.”
The air on the Upper East Side was crisp and mild, but the atmosphere on the sidewalk felt suffocatingly tight. Isolde was walking the three blocks to Effie’s private preparatory school, her mind turning over the CloudPath logistics.
The aggressive screech of tires shattered her concentration.
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