The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Vivienne’s phone buzzed insistently, matching the urgency of Aaron’s voice on the other end.

“Vivienne, Elite University’s gone haywire. A bunch of thugs outta nowhere setting fires, wounding folks. It’s chaos!”

“Everyone, stay frosty,” Vivienne commanded, her voice steady as she addressed the trio on the line. “Keep an eye out if they’re androids. If you spot them, don’t hesitate to smash them to bits!”

“Understood!”

Unison agreement crackled through the phone, quickly followed by the sounds of a scuffle.

The situation was swiftly brought under control.

The media was ablaze, both TV and online, with reports of rampaging robots. The incident was huge, engulfing the city as nearly every one got dragged into the fray.

Even Percival’s and Vivienne’s attempts to scrub the feeds were futile.

The concept of androids, which many had relegated to the stuff of movies, now confronted them in reality. To the average Joe, a robot was nothing more than a novelty to chuckle at. But now, lifelike androids roamed the streets, mistaken for flesh and blood, until Vivienne peeled back their synthetic skin to reveal the mechanics beneath.

Panic seized the Brooks Group, the Churchill Group, and the Pendleton Group. Even their employees were clueless about how the robots broke loose. Androids required pre-programmed instructions to function, yet these were fresh from the warehouse, never programmed for chaos.

Vivienne’s exclusive chat group about bionics was in an uproar—Zachary Churchill: [Madam, what’s the play? Folks are freaking out, saying robots will rule the world soon and we’re headed for a machine age. We can’t contain the online wildfire!]

William Pendleton: [Yeah, and Vanguard Agency wants a sit-down tomorrow. This meltdown smells fishy like it was all premeditated.]

Ronald Brooks: [I’m with you, Vivienne. This stinks of a setup!]

Vivienne’s face was a mask of ice as she commanded, [I need you three here, now.]

from Vanguard Agency. It was her exclusive project,

replied, [Got it,

got someone else on Carl. You’re the head honcho of Brooks

Ronald: [Understood. Thanks.]

him to head straight to the sanatorium in M State and

William, and

entered, “we’ve traced the androids.

added, “and they’re the first batch. Nothing on the

knew the gravity. “Vivienne, could this be a setup

her head. “It’s not

were her lieutenants, the project her brainchild. With the crisis unfolding,

his fists. “Madam, this is too suspicious. Let us handle

“Exactly. We can take the heat and disappear into some black site to clear things up. But if you’re implicated, no one

“Right. We’ll stick to the story—it’s

the Vanguard Agency will come knocking. They’re not idiots. Sure, we’re tight here in Rivenwood, but HQ will

in the hot seat, who’s gonna

Vivienne replied, tapping her fingers languidly on the chair’s edge. Her voice was lazy, her eyes shadowed, her thoughts

…

at Vanguard Agency, Vance

waves beyond Rivenwood, stirring a national

Vivienne and Percival’s efforts to minimize the fallout, the task was Sisyphean, the web of complicity too vast. By the time they neutralized

were foolproof! What’s this mess? I told you to reel in that patent, and you botched it! Use your head for once!” Webster’s tirade was as much about damage control as it was about frustration;

full well the kind of firecrackers Vivienne and Percival are. Even if I wanted to get my hands on that patent, I’d need the magic touch—which I don’t have. Why not grill Micah about it? He’s the one who

passing the buck! Rivenwood General Administration has already been reprimanded once. I’m warning you, if you don’t get a handle on this mess, you can

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