[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Look at the screen again, Jack. Look at the jagged gaps in that genetic sequence and tell me you see a human being. Tell me you see the woman you married in those synthetic bridges and artificial markers. My mother didn't give birth to me; she synthesized a weapon and dressed it in silk and gold. Every memory I have of my childhood, every scraped knee and whispered lullaby, is just a line of code she wrote to make the tool believe it had a soul."

Sofia stood in the center of the vibrating laboratory, her hands trembling as she pointed toward the massive holographic display. The...