Chapter Five: The Shadow Victory Leaves

In the flash of cameras, he saw Qiao Mi in the last row. Silver rings covered her right hand. He pushed through the crowd, but the emergency stairwell was empty. An open locker held an old data card. It contained a single log: [ORACLE JOINT PROJECT: LIVE CALIBRATION TEST ZERO.] [ARCLIGHT-SIDE SUBJECT: YANHUI. REALITY-SIDE SUBJECT: SHEN YAN.] [WARNING: VICTORIES ALSO GENERATE PERSONALITY SAMPLES. CONTINUOUS WINNING IS NOT A SAFE PATH.] The last line had been mostly erased. Only NORTH FIFTH HOSPITAL and ORIGINAL PROTOCOL remained. At 11:59, Shen Yan inserted the data card into his computer. Midnight revealed chaos in Ember's lounge. Their previous win should have led to the deciding game, but the arena had imposed a Population Collateral mode.