Chapter Four: Sell the Result, Not the Machine

Stop now and lose twenty minutes. Wait for the overload and defrost for three hours.” The supervisor reluctantly stopped the unit. Behind the side panel, the broken belt hung from its shaft. Gao watched the entire event from the control room. For the first time, he sat beside Chen. “Hanhai says your model controls people.” “Any model that gives answers without reasons can control people.” Chen showed him the decision log. “Ours permits refusal, and records every refusal.” “Even refusal of a correct answer?” “Even then.” After forty-eight hours, seals were removed from the meters under notarial cameras. Baseline consumption: 23,140 kilowatt-hours. Actual: 18,902. Temperature compliance rose from 96.7 to 99.4 percent. Energy savings: 18.