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Chapter 9: System OverrideThe lab was a tinderbox of unspoken words. The Relationship Optimization Algorithm—that beautiful, horrifying mirror—had been dismissed, but its ghost lingered in every glance, every silence. Aarav had retreated into a fortress of cold efficiency, his movements sharp, his focus deliberately narrow. He couldn't look at the core console without seeing the pulsating map of his own vulnerabilities. Mira, in contrast, moved with a quiet sorrow, her fascination with EVE's breakthrough now tempered by the cost of it.They had to move forward. The board's deadline was a sword of Damocles hanging over them. Aarav decided the only