Chapter One: The Fifty-Million-Euro Scar

The harsh smell of disinfectant rolled into the corridor. The guard turned his face away in disgust and peered past Lin. A second guard walked straight to the old terminal and touched its warm casing. “Who switched this on?” “I plugged it in,” Lin said. “I needed the socket behind it for the floor polisher.” The first guard watched him as if estimating the price of an object. Then he drew a silver scanner from his pocket and moved it down Lin's body. The scanner chirped beside Lin's right shoe. At the same moment, the voice returned inside his head. [Available template: León Vega.] [Peak ability parsed: first-three-step acceleration.] [Initial load duration: ninety seconds. Warning: host's right knee has insufficient load capacity.]