Chapter One: The Last Light

The old laptop was painfully slow. As she exported the data, its screen flickered black. An unfamiliar window opened by itself. Against a pure black background, white text appeared. NEON CUP — ROUND SEVEN HARBOR FALCONS 1:0 BLUE WHALES CONFIDENCE: 100% Jianxia’s hand stopped above the trackpad. The file had been created three days earlier. Before she had joined the Falcons. At the bottom of the screen, a cursor blinked with patient rhythm. FIRST CALIBRATION COMPLETE. WELCOME BACK, LIN JIANXIA.