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Pretty Tony is the name Julian Vance built for himself after ambition, resentment, and bad decisions transformed a talented engineer into a dangerous adversary. Years earlier, Vance worked alongside Cosmas at Cyberdine, contributing to advanced energy research while watching Cosmas receive recognition he believed should have been his. That resentment never disappeared. By the time Winston discovers SparkCore, Tony’s life has deteriorated beneath the polished suits and carefully maintained image. Gambling losses, substance abuse, and crushing debt leave him vulnerable to people who know exactly how to exploit desperation. When foreign operatives offer enough money to erase his problems in exchange for SparkCore technology, Tony sees both salvation and revenge. His knowledge of Cosmas’s systems makes him uniquely dangerous. Yet Pretty Tony is not driven by destruction alone. Pride, jealousy, fear, and survival constantly compete within him. The result is an antagonist who understands exactly what SparkCore could mean and believes he deserves his share.