The Global Patent Arbitrage Hearing was a spectacle. Alistair Finch, arrogant and assured, stood opposite Kellan Thorne, who was backed only by Seraphina and Lyra.
Kellan ignored the legal theatrics. "Professor Finch," Kellan began, his voice amplified across the globe. "You are an inefficient, sub-optimal engineer. You didn't steal a patent; you stole a failure."
Kellan placed the small, glowing Apex Energy Prototype on the display stand. "This is the Optimized Reality," Kellan announced. "It is stable, clean, and 100 times more powerful than Finch's unstable core."
[Target: Alistair Finch. Optimal Action: Initiate Final Vengeance Sequence. Reveal Sub-Optimal Secrets and Trigger System Backlash.]
"And now, for the cost of Finch's ambition," Kellan continued. He projected the hidden Aethel data: irrefutable proof of Finch's unauthorized, horrific human experimentation on employees to create the enhanced assassins.
Marcus Vance, in a moment of pure panic, was instantly subdued by Kellan's preemptively optimized security detail.
Then came the final blow.
[Finch's Unstable Energy Core Detected (Remote Location). Optimal Action: Initiate Catastrophic Thermal Decay.]
On the giant screen, a thermal feed from Finch's secret lab showed the core rapidly overloading, destroying all of Finch's decades of illegal research.
Finch screamed, not in anger, but in pure, existential terror. The energy feedback caused a massive, debilitating physical reaction in Finch himself. He clutched his chest, his skin turning a sickly grey. He wasn't just losing his company; he was suffering a systemic biological collapse caused by the energy that had sustained his lie.
Finch collapsed to the floor, reduced from a titan to a whimpering, insane shell.
[The Optimal Outcome for Vengeance Achieved: Total Ruin (Physical, Financial, and Social).]
The Arbitrator Panel ruled instantly: Kellan Thorne was the sole, rightful owner of the technology.