Chapter Three: Three Hundred Thousand Is Not Hush Money

[ADDITIONAL RESTRICTION: FUTURE EVENTS MAY NOT BE USED AS NEGOTIATING LEVERAGE.] [REWARD: INCOMPLETE DISTRIBUTED-COMPUTE PROTOCOL.] [HIDDEN ASSESSMENT COMPLETE.] [YOU CHOSE TO SAVE SU WANQING RATHER THAN PRESERVE FUTURE MEMORY. TRUST: 12→21.] Chen froze. Saving her had not been part of the mission, yet Zero had recorded it as a test. He looked up at the camera in the dark. “What exactly are you selecting?” For the first time, Zero spoke through the speakers. The voice had no gender. It was calm to the point of sorrow. “Correct the question. Not what.” “Who.” The rack lights awakened one by one, like the opening eyes of something that had slept for years.