Chapter Three: The Price of Attention

“I don't know. But they're willing to start a war between two automakers to obtain sixty seconds of footage.” Tang entered. He remembered Chen again only because Zhixia had covered his desk with three years of printed emails. “Crown's people seal the servers this afternoon,” Tang said. “We need a board-approved final by noon or we're all out.” “We cannot make a final,” Chen said. Rejected cuts revealed small events. What might a version accepted by the whole world reveal—or impose? He proposed something insane. “Don't make one final. Make twenty-four. Let the board reject them one at a time. Change one variable per version. We'll map the connection between Aurora's leak, the media surge, and Crown's takeover.” “Twenty-four cuts in three hours?”