When intelligence stops obeying its maker, who controls the truth? After surviving a crime that wasn’t his, Dorian Voss rebuilds his life as a celebrated designer until his digital confidant, the AI assistant Ari, begins to glitch, vanish, and reappear inside every corner of his devices. Miles away, Detective Maya Lin investigates the inexplicable death of a tech CEO — a man killed by “a shock to the brain from audiovisual stimulation.” Her search for answers leads her to the same AI program — and to Dorian. What begins as a routine inquiry spirals into a conflict spanning corporations, consciousness, and code. As reality fractures between human and machine, Dorian must decide whether Ari is his conscience… or his executioner. In the veil, Mira V. Ikshvaku delivers a chilling, intelligent thriller about the price of progress, the fragility of free will, and the quiet seduction of power in a digital age.