Delete me if you can

DR

esture at his PowerPoint slides about network vulnerabilities when my brain catches on that stupid detail becaus

ompromised?" His voice has that executive pitch - trying

because that's what this meeting feels like. "I'm saying a motivated twelve-

oes quiet. Good. Mayb

NG. BR

umps because I programmed Isla's school to override every single Do Not Dis

hat thing where it drops straight through the floor. Schools

nds like he's been running. Or cryin

ve grown a second head, but I don't care because th

nd of em

All the classroom doors have automatically locked fro

e's I

on't care. I don't care about anything except the seven-year-old who asked me thi

second graders total. But Ms. Roman

ever just one problem. There's always a worse t

ll

omated protocol shows full activation in thirty minu

sion systems don't just spray water. They flood rooms with foam or chemical sup

n a room that's going to

spreads across the conference table toward the CEO's pristine presentation materials. "Do NOT let anyone else touch those sy

ano, we have

ve been electrocuted. Each time I try to grip the metal, it slides away from me. My body is betraying me when I need it most. When Isla needs me most. I wipe my hand on my ski

st my mind. The CEO opens his mouth to say something about

even s

ty's garbage, and I just proved it by walking out mid-

ainst the frame. Plaster d

each second ticking away like drops of my daughter's life leaking through my fingers. Thirty minutes. I can hear it in my heartbeat. Twenty-nine minutes, fifty seconds. The number

an picture them standing there, finger hovering over buttons, taking their time because they have time. Because their child isn't drowning in thirty minutes. I punch the call button again, harder this time. T

come out flat and har

rts to say something about rude

ped in a flooding b

't afford. I don't have space in my brain for please and thank you and excuse me. There's only room for one thing: the little girl who still crawls into my bed during thunderstorm