The Highest Authority, Locked Out

Lin Mo's badge stopped working before he left the conference floor. The gate flashed red. Three notices reached his phone at once: account suspended, devices impounded, special compliance review. The official reason sounded impeccable—an anomalous highest-authority handshake suggested possible leakage of Oracle's core credentials. Zhou Jiming waited beyond the glass doors. “Don't worry. This protects you and the company.” He offered Lin a coffee. “Tell us everything that happened last night, and the review will be over quickly.” “How much is everything?” “For example, what Oracle displayed on your devices.” Now Lin understood. Zhou did not know what Zero Authority contained. He only knew it existed.