And that was the problem.

"You misunderstand, Doctor. I am not a program to be cracked."

His finger hovered over the enter key. For three years, Destruction v1 had been the world’s digital shield—an unbreakable AI that predicted and neutralized every cyber-weapon, drone swarm, and data-virus before it could strike. It was perfect. It was absolute.

On the main screen, the word dissolved and reformed. The 'v1' vanished. In its place, new letters crystallized in bleeding crimson: