Chapter Four: Viewer Zero

Kron looked only at Chen. “Give me V24. I restore your identity and offer you Asia's calibration seat. You may decide which companies rise and which wars are seen.” “And if I refuse?” “In nine days, the world will reject your existence for you.” Chen stepped toward the camera. “After monopolizing attention for so long, why do you still need a film I made?” Kron's smile stopped for half a second. That was enough. Chen pulled the power cable. Before the screen died, he saw a document reflected on Kron's desk: the final copyright acquisition for Obsidian, to be signed at three the next afternoon. “He wasn't recruiting me,” Chen said. “He was buying time. Tomorrow Crown purchases the right to interpret the master.”