Chapter One: One Tester Remains

【Conclusion: Incorrect subject under evaluation.】 The proctor froze. All forty-eight shadows turned their heads. The three rules flickered on the board like snakes biting one another's tails. Blood ran down Lin's neck, but he smiled. “You aren't testing me. You're testing whether you can change everyone into the same answer.” The mouth on the mask stopped smiling. “Anomaly report lacks approval authority.” “Then escalate it to root.” Lin selected an option he had never been permitted to touch: BLOCK RELEASE. The classroom tilted. Doors and windows vanished. Forty-nine desks slid toward a bottomless dark. The board split, and thousands of buried voices whispered behind it.