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Silas leaned forward slightly, his fingers drumming on the table as he considered her words. "I\'m aware, Elizabeth. The flurry of calls, the sudden concerns about the beta testers\' health—none of that is a surprise. What I didn\'t expect was for you to reach out personally. So, what is it that you\'re really after? I will ask again, are you here on your own accord or did the Bureau put you up to it?"

Elizabeth took a slow sip of her wine, letting the question hang in the air. She knew Silas well enough to understand that he thrived on ambiguity, always pushing others to reveal more than he did. But she wasn\'t about to fall into that trap.

"Let\'s just say that my interests are multifaceted," she replied smoothly. "The Bureau wants answers, of course. They see you as a potential disruptor—someone who could upend the balance of power with a few keystrokes. But as for me..."

She trailed off, setting her glass down with a quiet clink. "I\'m more interested in the person behind all of this. A man who managed to elude every surveillance network I have access to for seven months, only to reappear as the head of a tech company that\'s outpacing even the most established giants. I want to know why."

Silas studied her, his expression carefully neutral. For a moment, he let the silence stretch, watching as Elizabeth\'s gaze never wavered. Then he leaned back, crossing his arms. "You think I\'m playing a dangerous game, don\'t you? You\'re not wrong. But you, Elizabeth, should understand better than anyone that sometimes the game itself needs to change."

She tilted her head, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. "Is that what this is to you? A game? Because I\'ve seen people who treat power like a game before, Silas. They rarely last long when the real players get involved."

Silas chuckled softly, a low sound that held no humor. "You\'re right about one thing, Elizabeth—there are real players involved. And right now, they\'re scrambling because they can\'t understand what I\'ve done, or how I did it. But you know what I find funny? They all think that if they pressure me enough, I\'ll give up my secrets.

They think they can buy their way into my plans, or scare me into submission."

He shook his head, his expression turning cold. "But they\'re wrong. I\'m not in this for money, and I\'m certainly not afraid of them. And as for you..." He paused, letting his gaze bore into hers. "You\'re smart enough to know that this isn\'t about the Pod, or the game. It\'s about the kind of future we\'re building, and who gets to shape it."

Elizabeth allowed a small, genuine smile to surface. "And you believe that you should be the one shaping it?"

"Someone has to," Silas replied, his voice steady. "Look at the state of things, Elizabeth. Look at how slow progress has been, how innovation is stifled by bureaucracy and outdated systems. I can change that. We can change that—if you\'re willing to see beyond the old structures and think about what comes next."

Elizabeth leaned back, considering his words carefully. There was no denying that Silas\'s vision was ambitious—dangerously so. But there was something compelling about his certainty, his refusal to bend or compromise. It was a rare trait, and she couldn\'t help but respect it, even as she weighed the risks of aligning with someone so unpredictable.

"And what do you envision, Silas?" she asked, genuinely curious. "What does this future look like, the one you want to build?"

Silas\'s gaze drifted to the window, where the lights of the city spread out like a web beneath them. For a moment, his expression softened, as if he was looking beyond the skyline, seeing something that only he could perceive.

"It\'s a world where technology isn\'t just another tool for the powerful to maintain their grip on control. It\'s a world where the barriers between what\'s possible and what\'s not are shattered, where people aren\'t limited by the systems that hold them back. The Pod is just the beginning. Imagine what happens when reality itself becomes as malleable as code."

Elizabeth followed his gaze, but her thoughts were focused inward, on the implications of what he was saying. She understood the appeal of his vision—she\'d seen firsthand how the entrenched powers worked to keep their status. But she also knew that upheaval came at a cost, and Silas\' version of progress could upend more than just business.

It could destabilize entire governments, alter the balance of global power, and create new conflicts in ways no one could predict.

"You\'re talking about a revolution," she said finally, her voice quiet. "And revolutions tend to burn more than just those in power. Are you ready for that?"

Silas\'s smile faded, replaced by a look of fierce determination. "Revolutions don\'t happen without a price. I know that. But I\'m willing to pay it. The question is—are you?"

Elizabeth held his gaze for a long moment, the weight of his words settling over her like a heavy cloak. There was a risk here—an enormous one. Aligning with Silas meant stepping into a postion where the rules she had lived by no longer applied. But she also knew that sometimes, to gain control over the future, you had to be willing to embrace the chaos.

She picked up her glass again, raising it slightly in a gesture of acknowledgment. "I\'m not promising anything, Silas. But you\'ve convinced me of one thing—this is a conversation worth continuing."

Silas mirrored her gesture, the barest hint of a smirk returning to his lips. They clinked their glasses together, the sound ringing softly between them. And as they drank, they both knew that whatever came next, the world was on the edge of something new, something uncertain. And whether as allies, rivals, or something in between, they won\'t be safe from what\'s to come.

A couple of minutes later, Silas stood up from his seat and started walking towards the door of the restaurant. He paused when he got the door and turned his headnto look at Elizabeth who was still seated.

"I heard that you guys got a new addition. Do be careful around him, he\'s unstable."

Silas didn\'t bother to wait to see her reaction as he opened the door and left the restaurant, leaving the now confused Elizabeth.

"New addition? Is he talking about Daniel? What does he mean by him being unstable?" Elizabeth asked herself.