Chapter Five: I Wasn't Buying Time

At noon, Obsidian launched the Zero-Delay City. Paying clients got punctual flights, ten-minute meals, and same-day permits. The cost fell on two million couriers, support agents, and temporary workers. People spent seven subjective hours in elevators. Emergency patients remained forever one number from treatment. Some ran all day while their phone clocks advanced ten minutes. Their lifespans were intact; their waiting had been stretched toward infinity. Even Chen Dong entered the pool. He waited in Obsidian's lobby for an interview. The second hand made six circuits, but his body endured three days. When he saw Lin, he fell to his knees. “I signed, but I didn't know what that sentence meant.” “Without understanding, there is no consent.”