Chapter One: Rejected by an Entire Industry

“Return them?” Chen Mo said. “I designed that architecture before I joined Hanhai, using my own computer and my own data.” “Intellectual property isn't defined by what you believe. It's defined by whoever has the power to define it.” Zhou gave a soft laugh. “Executive Gu asked me to remind you that developing an uncontrollable AI isn't idealism. It's a security incident. Three cloud providers and two code-hosting services have already suspended you. Outside Hanhai, you don't even have enough compute to switch it on.” Beyond the glass wall, a colossal Hanhai billboard washed the wet city in silver light. Its slogan swept across the night sky: MAKE INTELLIGENCE OBEY HUMANITY.