Daniel Brooks let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“Fix it?” he repeated. “Who are you?”
Emily swallowed, but didn’t step back.
“It’s a conflict,” she said, forcing herself to continue. “The new security protocol—it’s clashing with the legacy system. It’s triggering itself over and over. That’s why everything is crashing.”
A few engineers frowned, glancing back at their screens.
She took a breath.
“I’ve seen it before. I wrote a patch… something that can stop the loop without shutting everything down.”
Security immediately stepped in.
“She doesn’t have authorization,” one of them said firmly.
The moment hung in the air—fragile, uncertain.
Then Michael stepped forward.
His hands were shaking as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his emergency access card.
“She’s right,” he said quietly. “Let her try.”
It wasn’t just a risk. It was everything. His job. His reputation. Their stability.
But he trusted her.
Ethan looked between them—the frightened father, the determined girl—and something shifted in his expression.
“Do it,” he said.
The room held its breath.
Michael swiped the card.
Access granted.