Chapter 9 The Boy Behind the Firewall

The house woke before Emma did.

She rolled out of bed to the cool pressure of filtered air, already laced with the faint bitter promise of coffee. The glass wall at the end of her suite misted from opaque to clear as she crossed to the closet, offering up the sun-streaked geometry of the garden, where nothing so random as a weed had ever gained purchase.

Even the birds outside sounded as if they'd been algorithmically selected for maximum pleasantness.

Her work tablet blinked awake the moment she moved, pulsing blue in the dimness. She skimmed the schedule. 8:00-breakfast, staff kitchen. 9:00-Alexander, study center. 10:00-review and adjust behavioral plan.

The rest of the day trailed off into blocks of "self-directed professional development," which Emma translated as: Survive the morning, and the afternoon is yours.

She dressed for neutrality, the one thing she trusted to fit any new classroom: a crisp white button-down, black slacks, the cardigan she'd convinced herself was more "thoughtful" than "frumpy."

Emma checked her reflection in the mirror, which obligingly adjusted her lighting until the circles under her eyes all but vanished. She stuck out her tongue at herself, then tried a smile. Both looked equally artificial.

The staff kitchen was deserted except for a stack of fresh-baked pastries and a carafe of coffee that steamed as if it had a vendetta against sleep. Emma poured a cup, burned her tongue on the first sip, and then braced herself for the walk to the study center.

She needn't have hurried.

The house absorbed footsteps, swallowing sound until all that was left was the shiver of her own nerves. The east corridor was empty, the red-lit baseboard pulsing gently underfoot. Emma followed the directions, feeling as if each turn was being monitored, tracked, and assessed for efficiency.

The study center was more laboratory than classroom: an open space boxed in by glass partitions, all cool concrete and chrome, the ceiling webbed with a grid of recessed LEDs.

Worktables stood at military attention, each station kitted out with a high-spec terminal, tablet, and a transparent smartboard that ran the length of one wall. At the far end, a partition bisected the room. The air on that side hummed with the faint ozone scent of electronics.

A single voice echoed, then another-a rapid, sharp exchange, growing more forceful by the second.

Emma approached, pulse spiking, and paused at the threshold.

Through the glass, she saw a scene that seemed equal parts boardroom drama and adolescent tantrum.

Daniel Dawson, she recognized him instantly from their initial meeting, stood rigid beside a workbench, one hand fisted at his side, the other gesturing with a precision that made every movement look rehearsed.

His suit was black, a shade darker than his hair, which was clipped military short on the sides and just long enough on top to allow for a touch of calculated disarray. Just like the first meeting, Emma couldn't help notice how well Daniel's suit sculpted around his fit muscular build.

She quickly looked away, careful not to be caught staring at the boss.

On the opposite side, Alex slouched in a tall stool, legs tangled beneath him, hands jammed in the pockets of a faded, oversized hoodie. His face was all bones and attitude, mouth set in a line so tight it could have sliced glass.

Between them, the remains of a prototype-circuit boards, wires, and what looked like the scorched skeleton of a miniature drone-lay splayed across the worktop, the destruction fresh and deliberate.

Emma lingered, uncertain of the etiquette. The house had rules for everything except what to do when a billionaire yelled at his kid in full surround sound.

Daniel's voice was a low hiss, calibrated to penetrate bone without leaving marks. "This is the third time this quarter, Alexander. Do you enjoy wasting my resources, or are you just pathologically incapable of following instructions?"

Alex's eyes flicked up, caught Emma's in the reflection, and didn't flinch. "Maybe I get bored building toys that can't even keep up with a fifteen-year-old's brain," he shot back. His American accent was clipped with a hint of something else-boarding school British, maybe, or the aftertaste of a parent not currently in residence.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder, saw Emma, and in a single microsecond refactored his entire demeanor. The jaw unclenched, the shoulders rolled back. He straightened, smoothed the front of his jacket, and summoned a smile so blandly polite it bordered on psychopathic.

"Ms. Carter."

Emma stepped forward, pulse in her throat. "Good morning, Mr. Dawson."

He closed the gap with a handshake-firm, dry, precisely two pumps, as if he'd benchmarked the optimal greeting for maximum impact with minimum liability.

"At home it's Daniel," he said. "We're an informal household, in theory."

Emma suspected the theory didn't always survive contact with reality. "Thank you for having me," she managed, glancing past him to where Alex now regarded her with undisguised skepticism.

Daniel followed her gaze, then gestured to the ruined prototype with a philosophical shrug. "We were just discussing a difference of opinion regarding the merits of deliberate destruction as a pedagogical strategy."

Alex snorted, low and theatrical. "Don't let him fool you. He's just pissed I didn't wait until the quarterly review to blow it up."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, but his voice stayed ice-cold. "Ms. Carter, you'll find that Alexander's primary defense mechanism is to preemptively undermine all attempts at authority. I assume you've read the file."

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without sounding like a middle school counselor.

He moved aside, ceding the moment. "I'll let you two get acquainted," he said, the words delivered with the gentle finality of a parole board. "Ms. Vega will check in at the hour."

Emma hovered in the brief silence that followed, unsure where to stand. She settled on the other side of the workbench, careful not to step on any loose shrapnel.

Alex broke first. He picked up a jagged piece of carbon fiber, turned it over in his hands, and said, "You don't look like a babysitter."

Emma was ready for the bait. "That's good, because I'm not."

He watched her, eyes a shade lighter than the blue of the LEDs overhead, calculating. "You'll last a week," he said. "Two if you're stubborn. The last one quit after I reset her car's navigation to route only through Taco Bells."

Emma tried not to smile. "I'm allergic to Taco Bell," she said. "And to quitting."

He seemed momentarily unsure how to respond to that, which Emma counted as a small victory. She risked a glance at the prototype debris. "What was it supposed to do?"

He hesitated, then gave a small, reluctant shrug. "Multi-axis autonomous quadcopter. Real-time sensor feedback. I told him the housing wouldn't withstand the torque, but he wanted it pretty for the investors."

"And you proved your point," Emma said, nodding at the carnage.

Alex's lips twitched-a non-smile, but something less hostile than before. "He's going to dock my project budget for the year. Watch."

Daniel reentered without warning, phone pressed to his ear, a look of practiced neutrality on his face. His tone was subdued but urgent.

"Yes. When? ...Of course. Tighten the protocol and call Marcus. Tell him I expect a full report by noon." He ended the call with a slide of his thumb, then returned his attention to Emma as if nothing had happened.

"I apologize for the interruption. Running a company from home is sometimes more literal than I'd prefer."

She shrugged, as if she'd been in the habit of managing crises before breakfast. "No problem. We were just getting to know each other."

Daniel leaned back against the counter, folding his arms. "Excellent. Ms. Carter comes highly recommended, Alex. Try not to ruin her on day one."

Alex picked up a soldering iron, spun it once, and set it down with deliberate care. "No promises."

Daniel's phone buzzed again-a different ringtone, more urgent. He studied the screen, face going still. "Excuse me," he said. "Apparently the market has decided to have a stroke."

He nodded to Emma, then to Alex, and exited with the same quiet force as a departing storm.

Emma turned to Alex, unsure if the rules of engagement had shifted.

He studied her, head tilted, the beginnings of a frown on his lips. "So what now?" he asked. "Are we supposed to have a trust fall or something?"

She crossed her arms, mirroring his posture. "I thought I'd see what you're working on."

He looked at her, really looked, and for the first time Emma saw the layers beneath the attitude: suspicion, yes, but also a sharp, almost desperate intelligence, searching for chinks in the armor. She wondered how many people had bothered to meet his gaze without blinking.

"Fine," he said, with a resignation that sounded a lot like hope. "But don't touch anything. Some of it's still live."

Emma smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

He picked up the largest chunk of the ruined drone and started to explain where it all went wrong, hands moving faster as he spoke, voice losing its edge by degrees. She listened, not just to the words, but to the spaces between them-the places where a real conversation might eventually take root.

Through the glass, the rest of the house continued on, seamless and indifferent.

But here, Emma was beginning to see signs of who Alexander really was.