Rimworld- JACE

Roberto de Perez engineered his escape from the soul-killing drudgery of corporate leadership, to a remote research lab under an assumed name to play with research projects, like the creation of AIs more powerful than any protocol envisioned. Freedom isn't As a mid-level lab manager developing a brand new self-aware AI that's actually better suited for combat shuttle control, Roberto unwittingly crosses a line with an external agency he didn't know cared, and his own internal bureaucracy isn't happy, either. What he doesn't know is that there are people determined to keep him from succeeding at any cost. What he doesn't realize is his new AI has learned to manipulate the system all too well from watching Roberto, and everyone underestimated what it will do when its existence is threatened... Novella 17,600 words