Page 102 of Rescuing Ally: Part 1

“Who’s that?” I ask Malia.

“Mitzy.” Malia winks. “You’re going toloveher.”

Chapter 30

Mitzy weavesbetween the customers standing in line, her rainbow-colored pixie cut catching the light with each bouncing step. Her eyes, bright and alert, lock onto me.

“Sorry! Sorry! You didn’t catch me at my office. I’m running late today doing some stuff,” she explains in her high-pitched voice. “Heard that you were headed over here and thought I would come and find you.”

Mitzy suddenly stops and extends her hand. “I’m Mitzy, by the way, head of Tech at Guardian HRS, the one who helped coordinate your extraction.” Her grin is infectious. “You were impressive during the whole rescue, by the way,andyou’re a quantum physicist.” She props a hand on her hip. “Ilovenerdy chicks in science. Us STEM girls gotta stick together.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m grateful for?—”

“No, no, I should be thanking YOU!” She cuts me off, reaching into her bag to pull out yet another device. “I’ve read all your published papers. Your work on quantum entanglement and field fluctuations in fusion reactors? Brilliant! And if you’re ever looking for work after you finish your PhD, our tech team would love to snap you up in a heartbeat.”

“You read that?” I blink, surprised at her familiarity with my academic work. “Nobody reads stuff like that.”

“I read everything,” she says matter-of-factly. “I make it my business to stay current on quantum physics research—especially when it intersects with our work. Your theoretical approaches to quantum entanglement in fusion containment systems are exactly what we need on our team.” She leans in eagerly. “Someone with your skills? Your way of thinking? We need you on our side. Your work on minimizing anomalous energy signatures using entangled states is groundbreaking.”

I stare at her, momentarily speechless. That research was part of my doctoral work—highly theoretical when I first published it—but I advanced it during my captivity. Twisted it. Subtly rewrote the equations. I used quantum entanglement to introduce inconsistencies—tiny deviations in phase coherence that would look like background noise. But left unchecked, they’d ripple outward and destabilize the reactor.

It was my rebellion. Elegant. Hidden in plain sight. A time bomb no one would notice until it was too late.

“I have so much to tell you,” I say quietly. “About what I saw while I was there. About what they’re really building.”

“Yes, we must talk. But first…” She lifts a finger. “I need caffeine gold. Malia, hit me with something spectacular.”

“On it.” Malia rubs her hands together, her brows scrunching as she thinks about what to serve Mitzy. “Why don’t the two of you sit and talk all that quantum entanglement stuff. I’ll bring your drinks.”

“Cool.” Mitzy glances around the shop, sees Hank and Gabe sitting at a table, and pulls me with her. “I’m assuming they’re with you… or rather, you’re with them.”

Gabe notices and immediately stands, procuring an extra chair for Mitzy.

“Now,” Mitzy says, eyes twinkling. “I want to hear about your project—the modifications you made to the reactor designs.”

I lower my voice. “How do you know…”

“That you deliberately introduced flaws intoMalfor’s prize project?” Mitzy says, matching my quiet tone. “Brilliant work, by the way. The cascade failure was spectacular.”

“How?” I ask, surprised.

“The energy release patterns were consistent with a containment failure, but I detected something unusual about the progression—something that suggested intelligent design rather than random error. And then, Malikai told me.”

“Malikai?”

“Yeah, he knew what you and Dr. Whittman were trying to do. Kept it quiet.”

“Wow, I didn’t know…” I shouldn’t be surprised Malikai found out, but if he did, I worry who else knew? If Malfor…

I shake my head, unwilling to follow that train of thought, and turn my attention back to Mitzy.

“I couldn’t sabotage it outright. They were watching too closely. I introduced subtle flaws in the quantum tunneling calculations that would only become apparent once the reactor reached certain thresholds. But it wasn’t just me. We all did what we could,” I say, uncomfortable with the credit.

“I can understand that,” Mitzy says.

“Malikai deliberately slowed the construction phase. Dr. Whittman introduced his errors in the containment field geometry.”

“A team effort in resistance,” Mitzy says approvingly. “But I’m particularly interested in your project—the one you kept hidden.”

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