Night arrived with a clear sky, but the atmosphere in the house was as thick as fog.
Alma stood at the dining room table, her arms crossed and her jaw clenched. Iker came in after checking the farm's laboratory, his jacket still dusty from the ventilation systems he'd been calibrating.
She didn't greet him.
"Where have you been?"
Iker looked at her. Not with surprise, but with the serenity of someone who knew that sooner or later he would have to have this conversation.
"Working," he answered simply.
"Where?" Alma insisted. "Where do you work, Iker? There's no trace of you anywhere. You're not with your father. You're not in any company. You don't have partners. You leave no traces. And I'm not stupid."
The silence that followed wasn't cold, but tense.
Loaded with an expectation that could only be broken with a decision.
Iker took a deep breath.
"Come with me," he finally said. "I'm going to show you something. Not everything. But enough for you to understand."
Minutes later, they went down together to the estate's basement. Alma followed him without a word, although doubt trembled in her eyes.
The lab was dark, but as they entered, the lights turned on by themselves. Kara-H1 was at rest, standing in its maintenance pod, like a porcelain figurine.
Alma looked at her with half-open eyes, as if she didn't understand what she was seeing.
"Is she... human?"
"No," Iker replied. "She's an android. The first of many. I designed it, from scratch."
Alma turned to him with a look of disbelief. He didn't move. He didn't explain further.
He walked to the console and slid his fingers along the panel. A floating projection appeared in front of them: satellite photographs, architectural renderings, and real-time screenshots.
The first thing revealed was an island wrapped in green, bathed in sunlight. Then, the view descended toward structures that seemed impossible: a curved black glass building with helipads on its roof, surrounded by logistics platforms, and a partially buried cylindrical structure: the factory.
"This isn't a dream," Iker said quietly. "It's real. I built all of this. With my hands. With my mind. Without asking anything from my father. Not his money. Not his allies."
Alma watched him without moving. He couldn't read her.
"What for?" she finally asked. "What are you doing, Iker?"
"I'm preparing our future. A place without anyone's control. Without tainted inheritances. Without chains."
"A place where we can raise Emiliano and Camila as they deserve: free."
Alma took a step back. Her eyes were shining.
"And why are you telling me this now?"
"Because it's almost ready. In a few months... we'll leave here.
And when we do... I want you to come with me. Not out of obligation.
Out of choice."
She walked over to the panel and touched an image: a platform with androids unloading materials.
Hundreds of them.
"Did you do this alone?"
Iker nodded.
"And what else are you hiding from me?"
He hesitated.
But for now, he just said:
"For the moment, that doesn't matter. What matters is that all of this... is for you."
She didn't respond. She just looked at him.
And for the first time in years, there was no resentment in her eyes.
Only a small...but growing spark: faith.