The words on the screen burned brighter than the gunfire.
ONLY ONE AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
The AI card hummed inside its glass cradle, light pulsing like a mechanical heartbeat. Red emergency lights washed the server floor in blood-colored shadows. Outside the transparent walls, Hong Kong stretched endlessly—millions of lives balanced on a line of code.
Virginia stared at the screen.
Dominic stared at her.
Vito Genovese smiled like a man watching his favorite movie reach the best part.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" Vito said calmly. "A system so advanced it understands conflict. It doesn't choose morality. It chooses efficiency."
Virginia fired a shot.
The bullet missed Vito's head by a centimeter and shattered the glass behind him.
Vito didn't flinch.
"Tsk," he said. "Temper, Virginia. You always were emotional."
She snarled. "And you were always dead."
She turned back to Dominic. "You can't hack that, can you?"
Dominic's fingers flew across the terminal. Sweat dripped down his face.
"I can break in," he said, voice tight. "But the authorization protocol is hardwired. It's biometric. One person. One final command."
Virginia laughed bitterly. "Of course it is."
Gunfire echoed again as more guards poured in from the stairwells.
Dominic looked up. "We don't have time."
Vito spread his arms. "Then decide."
THE BOSS'S TRUTH
"You know," Vito continued conversationally, "when I discovered you two were married, I considered killing you both immediately."
Virginia's eyes flicked toward him.
"But then," Vito said, pacing slowly, "I realized something beautiful. Love is the most efficient weapon ever invented."
Dominic clenched his jaw.
"I trained you separately," Vito went on. "Fed you the same lies. Gave you the same missions. You were always meant to collide."
Virginia shouted, "You sick—"
"Visionary," Vito corrected. "The AI learned from you. Your patterns. Your instincts. Your conflict."
The AI screen flickered.
EMOTIONAL VARIABLES CONFIRMED.CONFLICT OPTIMIZATION COMPLETE.
Virginia felt cold.
Dominic whispered, "He trained the AI on us."
Vito bowed slightly. "Exactly."
NO TIME FOR THINKING
A grenade bounced across the floor.
Virginia kicked it back without looking.
Explosion.
Smoke.
Screams.
Dominic grabbed the AI card case, yanking cables free. "We move. Now."
"Authorization!" the AI demanded.
Virginia slammed her fist into the terminal. "Shut up!"
The system paused.
VOICE RECOGNITION ACTIVE.
Dominic stared. "Virginia… talk to it."
She blinked. "What?"
"You're the chaos input," he said quickly. "It learned from you. Your voice might override the loop."
Vito laughed loudly. "Oh, I hope this works."
Virginia stepped forward, gun still firing backward as she spoke.
"You want a decision?" she shouted at the AI. "Here it is!"
She grabbed Dominic's hand and slammed both their palms onto the console.
"WE DON'T CHOOSE ONE," she yelled. "WE CHOOSE EACH OTHER."
The AI froze.
Lights flickered.
ERROR.DUAL AUTHORIZATION DETECTED.LOGIC CONFLICT…
The building shook violently.
Vito's smile faded.
THE AI BREAKS
Dominic typed furiously, exploiting the hesitation.
"I'm in!" he shouted. "It's rewriting itself!"
Virginia grinned. "Told you it liked me."
"Less flirting, more shooting!" Dominic yelled.
The AI's voice changed—less mechanical, more uncertain.
RECALCULATING…OUTCOME: UNDEFINED.
Vito stepped back slowly. "No… no, that's not possible."
Virginia aimed her gun at him. "Guess your future just crashed."
Vito lunged for a control panel.
Dominic tackled him.
They crashed into the floor, the billionaire chair tipping over dramatically.
Virginia blinked. "…Wow. That chair really was ugly."
Vito slammed Dominic's injured leg.
Dominic screamed but held on.
Virginia fired, hitting Vito's shoulder.
Blood splattered across the white floor.
Vito fell back, clutching the wound, eyes burning with hatred.
"You think this ends me?" he snarled. "I built this city's shadow!"
Virginia walked over and kicked the AI card out of its cradle, catching it cleanly.
"No," she said. "You abused it."
She leaned down close to him.
"And now you're irrelevant."
THE FALL
The building alarms shifted tone.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE COMPLETE.BANK CORE LOCKED.AI CONTROL SUSPENDED.
Dominic limped to his feet.
"We need to go. Now."
Virginia nodded.
She looked down at Vito one last time.
"Game over."
They ran.
Behind them, Harbor Tower began emergency shutdown. Elevators froze. Lights died. The city's financial core went dark for three seconds.
Three seconds that saved billions.
ESCAPE — ANIME STYLE
They burst through a shattered window onto a maintenance platform.
Helicopters hovered nearby.
Virginia grinned wildly. "Jump?"
Dominic laughed breathlessly. "You always ask that like there's a choice."
They leapt.
Virginia fired a grappling hook mid-fall, catching a neighboring tower.
They slammed into the side, rolled, and kept running as explosions rippled behind them.
From the smoke, Vito Genovese watched—bleeding, furious, alive.
His eyes followed them into the darkness.
AFTERMATH — QUIET FOR ONCE
Hours later, they sat on a rooftop far from Harbor Tower.
The AI card lay between them, dormant.
Dominic stared at it. "We destroyed his control… but not him."
Virginia shrugged. "Then we'll destroy him next."
He smiled weakly. "You're terrifying."
She leaned against him. "You married me."
Sirens echoed in the distance, but none were chasing them anymore.
For the first time in a long time, the city felt… lighter.
SOMEWHERE ELSE
Vito Genovese stood before a mirror, bandaged, rage contained.
"They broke the AI," an assistant said nervously.
Vito smiled slowly.
"No," he said. "They evolved it."
He turned.
"And now I know exactly how to break them."
FINAL IMAGE
On the rooftop, Virginia looked at Dominic.
"What now, officer?"
Dominic looked at the city, then at her.
"Now," he said, "we go to war."
She grinned.
"Good."