Elodie understood exactly what Alexander meant.

A complete flight control system was a complicated beast-it required constant iteration on the foundational code, refining technical details again and again. Even if VistaLink Technologies and their competitor clashed over something that wasn’t the core of the system, as long as there was overlap, they could be accused of theft.

“Elodie, Alex-Neural Intelligence just released a statement.”

Esmeralda strode in, dropped a tablet in front of them, and gestured at the screen.

Elodie glanced over it, letting out a short, cold laugh.

The rumor that VistaLink Technologies’ engineers had “stolen” code from Neural Intelligence was spreading like wildfire.

Neural Intelligence’s official statement hammered the point home: “Neural Intelligence will do everything possible to get to the bottom of this. We will not allow the hard work of our engineers and technicians to be plagiarized. We are petitioning the National Patent Review Board to invalidate VistaLink Technologies’ flight control system patent, and if our claims prove true, we will pursue the matter to the fullest extent.”

They’d practically nailed VistaLink Technologies to the wall, as if the verdict was already in. It was the kind of public posturing that could tip the scales of public opinion in an instant.

Esmeralda swore under her breath. “They make it sound like we stole the crown jewels of technology from them. Is that code even theirs? Elodie wrote the original version! Don’t they have a shred of self-awareness? Shameless self-promotion, that’s all it is.”

But the truth was, even partial overlap meant overlap. And for patents, that was enough to cause trouble.

“They sure didn’t waste any time with that statement,” Alexander sneered. “Funny, isn’t it? When our patent was up for grabs, we didn’t sell it to Neural Intelligence. Now they’re desperate to have it revoked-looks more like payback than anything else.”

Elodie mulled it over, frowning. “We need evidence, obviously. But what I really want to know is how they got hold of my source code.”

She was certain that the files in Terrence’s email were from a version she’d written herself. But now the other side had presented emails with timestamps even earlier than hers. It made no sense.

“We never said we wouldn’t resolve this,” Esmeralda grumbled. “But Sylvie’s team went straight to making a public spectacle out of it. They slapped the label on us before we could even respond. Now our partners are calling, trying to feel us out -they’re worried this might jeopardize their own projects.”

“It’s reasonable they’d be concerned,” Elodie replied calmly. “Let’s reassure them for now. I’ll think of something.”

She needed solid, indisputable proof to undercut Neural Intelligence’s so-called evidence.

That afternoon, Alexander brought more news. “Neural Intelligence just rolled out a new system proposal. They’re already in talks with some of our partners about future collaborations.”

Elodie blinked. “That fast?”

“Jarrod’s been busy,” Alexander said dryly. “He brought in some heavy-hitters from across Europe to help Sylvie’s team with research. They’ve made real progress. Of course, their system still can’t hold a candle to yours, but with us caught up in this mess, even a pale imitation could give them an edge.”

He didn’t care that their rivals had managed to produce a system-what really stung was knowing Jarrod had been the driving force behind it, feeding Sylvie’s ambitions.

It was like handing her a loaded gun.