Gemotions

The coffee tasted like ash in Clara's mouth. She stared at the email, the words blurring before her eyes. The subject line, "Project Phoenix - Update," seemed to pulse with an ominous light. She’d dedicated the last eighteen months to this project. Now, staring at the email, her fingers felt numb.

The attached document outlined everything she had painstakingly created. The architectural designs, the innovative materials, the ambitious sustainability goals... It was identical. Across the city, another architect, someone she knew, had apparently come to the same conclusions. A cold knot tightened in her stomach.

She re-read the email, and the knot got tighter. The language, so matter-of-fact and professional, only served to amplify the strangeness of the situation. Her hands trembled, making the screen shake slightly.