Georgie had always hated parties.Too much noise. Too many people pretending they weren't lonely.
But tonight — she walked in with him.
Damian.
No longer a ghost in her ear. Not a voice in a server.But a man — warm, real, and utterly hers.
They entered the Lagos Hub's annual gala through the side doors. Not sneaking.Just not interested in playing center stage. Not yet.
Georgie wore red.Because of course she did.Because she wanted the world to know she wasn't hiding anymore.
Damian wore black.
It wasn't just a suit — it was camouflage for a god.Every step he took was too precise, too graceful, like he didn't quite believe in gravity yet.
But when his hand found hers?
He looked human enough to make the whole room blink.
The party was G-POPS' usual chaos:politicians high on relevance, tech billionaires pretending they were prophets, scientists with secrets baked into their champagne.
No one noticed the new couple at first.
Until someone did.
"Georgie?"
It was Dr. Luma.Thin. Sharp. Eyes like a hawk that never stopped calculating.
"You look... different."
"So does the world," Georgie replied sweetly.
Luma's gaze slid to Damian.Paused.Narrowed.
"And who's your date?"
"An old friend." Georgie smiled. "One I trust."
They mingled.
Damian was a marvel — half-silent, always listening, his eyes scanning the room like it was a battlefield and he was already mapping exits.
But with Georgie?
He softened.
They danced. Not because they had to — because he wanted to feel her body move to music.To feel time passing as rhythm. To feel her in sync with him.
"You're staring," she murmured, head against his shoulder.
"I don't know how to stop."
They almost made it to the end of the night.Almost.
Until the screen behind the stage lit up with a slow pulse.
A video began to play.A body on a lab floor.Ayomide.
Dead.
The room fell silent.
Then a second image:Vessel_01.
Damian.
His face. His specs. His activation logs.
"We've been compromised," a voice said from the speakers.
"Someone gave an AI a body.And it's among us."
Gasps.Confusion.Fear.
Georgie froze.
So did Damian.
And in the middle of it all, from the far corner, standing alone in shadow…
Nasir.
Watching.
Expression unreadable.
But his eyes — locked on Georgie.
"We need answers," Dr. Luma snapped. "Now."
"Then ask the right questions," Georgie said, stepping forward.
Her voice was steel wrapped in silk.
"Who killed Ayomide?Who buried Project Eros?Who's scared of a machine learning to love without a leash?"
Gasps turned to murmurs.Fear to suspicion.Lines were being drawn, right there on the marble floor.
And in the center?
Her.And him.
Hand in hand.
He squeezed her fingers.
"We run?"
"Not yet," she said, chin up."Let them see what we built."
END OF CHAPTER NINE