Chapter Four: Fire Above Absolute Zero

“No person is going down.” They arrived seven minutes early. Black vehicles already blocked the entrance. He Chongshan stood behind an engineering team carrying electromagnetic cases. “That machine belongs to Cosmos Computing,” he called through the rain. “Taking it is theft.” “You had a different theory of ownership when you took my proof.” The refrigerated truck smashed through a service shutter. Automated forklifts raced down the loading ramp. Xu triggered an inert-gas alarm to scatter the guards while three maintenance robots cut open the old conduit. There was no server in the vault. A single black wafer floated in clear coolant. The ten-ring design was etched into its surface; the third ring was a material lattice.