“Is this for real?”

Elodie frowned, scrolling through the comments below.

Some of them were downright hostile.

It was clear-VistaLink Technologies was getting slammed by a wave of negative press.

She was caught off guard. How had things gotten so ugly, so fast?

“What’s Neural Intelligence saying about this? Have they reached out yet?” Elodie asked after a moment’s thought. Her tone was calm, unruffled.

Alexander tapped his fingers on the table, brow furrowed. “Not yet. But with something this big, there’s no way they’re in the dark. We need to get to the bottom of this. VistaLink Technologies isn’t going to take the fall for something we didn’t do.”

Elodie understood exactly what was at stake.

After all, her flight control system had a major influence in the industry.

A problem surfacing now, at such a critical point-

It would be all too easy for people to start doubting VistaLink Technologies. The consequences could be massive.

She made a quick decision, her expression turning cold. “Alex, get in touch with Neural Intelligence. Set up a meeting with that engineer.”

This was nothing short of a hit job on her flight control system.

Alexander nodded.

He already had Sylvie’s contact info and called her directly.

She didn’t ignore the call or play games. Instead, she picked up right away. “Mr. Sterling, I’m aware of the situation. What do you want to do?”

Alexander glanced at Elodie. “This is serious, Ms. Fielding. We need to meet in person and clear the air. I’m sure President Fielding is just as surprised as we are —after all, this person is from your company. If something’s off here, President Fielding will have to answer for it as well, don’t you think?”

Sylvie sounded unbothered. “Naturally. We’re all professionals here. How about we meet at three this afternoon?”

“Works for me.”

Alexander wasted no time drafting a press release, handing it off to Esmeralda to send out.

At the very least, they needed to steady the ship.

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

Alexander and Elodie arrived at the agreed-upon place.

Sylvie was already there, seated next to a brown-haired, blue-eyed man.

She gave Alexander a curt nod when he entered.

As for what happened at the research institute and the whole mess with ranking- she acted as if it had never occurred.

She barely glanced at Elodie, focusing only on Alexander. “Mr. Sterling, this is Terrence, our engineer at Neural Intelligence. He’s the one affected by this incident.”

At the word “affected,” Elodie’s lips curled into a frosty, razor-sharp smile. Alexander sized Terrence up as well.

Once they sat down, he gave a dry chuckle. “Ms. Fielding, from the way you’re putting it, it sounds like you’ve already decided who’s at fault here.”

Sylvie crossed her legs and offered a faint smile. “Mr. Sterling, I apologize. This is as surprising to me as anyone. Nobody wants this kind of situation. But Terrence can provide evidence he wrote up a technical proposal two years ago, and it’s still in his inbox, with timestamps and everything.

Some of the core concepts in VistaLink Technologies’ flight control system overlap with Terrence’s proposal. Our reverse engineering analysis shows a portion of your code functions identically to his. So naturally, he has questions.”

“Cut to the chase—what are you asking for?” Elodie leaned back in her chair, gaze steady, a mocking smirk on her lips.

Only then did Sylvie turn her eyes to Elodie, speaking deliberately. “If plagiarism is proven, VistaLink Technologies will have to forfeit the patent rights.”