Chapter Three: The Price of Attention

“We found the road,” Tang said. “No,” Chen replied, gripping the desk as his reflection vanished completely. “We found the road with the lowest price.” They sent the evidence anonymously to Obsidian's chairman. At 12:01, Gu was suspended, and Crown's proposal was delayed for conflict review. Starbridge kept the project. The office erupted in cheers, but nobody knew to thank Chen. People flowed around him as if avoiding invisible glass. Only Zhixia kept hold of his wrist. “Look at me. Your name is Chen Mo. You're twenty-nine, an editor, and you drink black Americanos. You saved a girl in a yellow scarf. You hate people changing your keyboard shortcuts.” “The last one isn't important.” “It is to me.” The servers began a low mechanical howl.