He frowned. "Apple?" he muttered. "That’s not a code. That’s a fruit."

“We designed APPLE to bond with a human host,” she wrote. “Whoever holds the code becomes the new root administrator of the global food supply. Every apple tree on Earth will sync to their neural lattice. They can ripen, rot, or poison crops with a thought. I buried it. I’m sorry.”

> PLACE YOUR PALM ON THE CORE.

> STRAIN APPLE ACTIVE. HOST ACCEPTANCE: 100%.

Kaelen’s left eye twitched. He looked at his reflection in the vault’s glass. His iris had turned the color of a Golden Delicious.

Serial Code: Apple

He frowned. "Apple?" he muttered. "That’s not a code. That’s a fruit."

“We designed APPLE to bond with a human host,” she wrote. “Whoever holds the code becomes the new root administrator of the global food supply. Every apple tree on Earth will sync to their neural lattice. They can ripen, rot, or poison crops with a thought. I buried it. I’m sorry.”

> PLACE YOUR PALM ON THE CORE.

> STRAIN APPLE ACTIVE. HOST ACCEPTANCE: 100%.

Kaelen’s left eye twitched. He looked at his reflection in the vault’s glass. His iris had turned the color of a Golden Delicious.