Outside, dawn bled over the runway where a real prototype—built from Orion’s digital twin—waited for its first flight.

“She’s right, though.”

But Mira wasn’t watching the numbers. She was watching the ghost cursor —a pale blue tracer moving independently, sketching a wing rib she hadn’t commanded.

“Forty-two percent,” her junior whispered. “R2021 would have crashed.”

“Memory usage?” she asked.

“It’s not just a version,” her boss had said that morning. “It’s a promise. Generative AI surface healing. Real-time quantum ray tracing. Zero-latency collaboration between Paris, Tokyo, and Detroit.”