Gemotions

Rain lashed against the windows of the shared office space, mirroring the tempest brewing inside Amelia. She'd sunk months into this AI-driven art generator, code sprawling across her screens. Then, *him*. That smug grin, that effortless charm. “Identical projects, huh? Funny coincidence.” Funny? It was an insult. A blatant, undeserved insult to her intellect.

Amelia’s jaw clenched. She tapped a command into the terminal, refusing to acknowledge the other coder. It was a brute force method, a clunky solution. But she would *not* look at his elegant, streamlined code. Not now. Not ever.

Her shoulders bunched, and she began to hum a tuneless melody, ignoring the way the other person kept trying to get her attention. She’d finish this first. First. And hers would be better, she was sure of it, even if she had to rewrite the entire thing a hundred times.