Night settled over Horizon Gate like a robe of quiet computation.
From the outside, the palace glowed in steady confidence - glass walls reflecting constellations of megacity lights, its figure clean and impregnable. Outside, still, an unnoticeable pressure threaded through the halls, subtle as static before a storm.
Xinyue stood alone in her office, fritters resting smoothly on the edge of her office. The megacity sprawled beneath her like a living circuit board -roads pulsing, windows blinking, signals traveling unseen. She was n't looking at it. She was harkening to it. Feeling the meter of movement and pause, the patterns that rumored when commodity was about to break.
Jun's voice muttered through her earpiece.
" They've made their first real gash. "
Her eyes narrowed. " Where? "
" A third- league logistics establishment we still absorbed last time. Tonight, its network authorization was incompletely rerouted. Clean. Elegant. Whoever did it did n't steal anything. They just opened a door. "
Xinyue exhaled sluggishly.
" A door is n't a breach, " she said. " It's an assignation. "
Li Wei entered without a sound, his presence warm against the cold perfection of the room. He leaned on the doorframe, studying her profile.
" Please tell me someone did n't just knock politely on our digital frontal gate. "
" They left it uncorked, " Jun replied. " Which means they intend to come back. "
Li Wei's mouth twisted noiselessly. " That's rude.However, at least commit to it, If you're going to trespass. "
Xinyue turned, her aspect
Sharp but calm. " No. They're not rude. They're case. "
She tapped the office formerly - quiet, deliberate. " They're mapping us. "
The first visible consequence arrived an hour latterly.
A indigenous supplier suddenly failed to confirm a payload that had been listed and triple- vindicated. Not canceled. Not delayed. Simply silent. Emails returned unopened. Calls went unanswered. A hole appeared In the functional inflow like a missing twinkle.
Middle operation began to stir.
Query spread still - soft murmurs in break apartments, conservative ganders between departments, dispatches transferred with too numerous question marks.
Li Wei moved through the bottom like graveness itself steady, grounding, casually interdicting exchanges before they gained weight. He joked, comforted, veered, reminded people of procedures, of trust, of meter.
But Xinyue did n't smile.
She sat in Jun's secure room, girdled by translucent data defenses, her eyes tracking a slow curl of behavioral anomalies.
" This is n't dislocation, " she said. " It's trial. "
Jun jounced. " They're tutoring us how they want us to reply. "
Xinyue leaned back slightly. " also we educate them commodity in return. "
By night, the alternate gash appeared.
A nonpublic strategy draft -one that only four people had access to - surfaced in the hands of a minor contender. The contender did n't publish it. Did n't source it.
They simply began making moves that impeccably combated it.
Precision. Quiet. Surgical.
Li Wei goggled at the data feed, jaw tightening. " They're not fighting us. "
" They're learning us, " Xinyue replied.
He looked at her also, searching her eyes. " Do they know about us? "
Her aspect
Softened - just slightly. " Not yet. But they will. "
He stepped closer. " also we do n't let them weaponize it. "
She reached for his hand not tightly, not dramatically, just enough to anchor him. " We wo n't. "
For a twinkle, the storm outside felt far down.
At 217 a.m., the shadow made its first particular move.
Xinyue's private channel lit up.
No name. No hand. Just a single line of textbook
You have erected commodity beautiful. Let me show you where it bends.
Her palpitation remained steady.
Jun set. " They set up this line? "
Xinyue did n't answer incontinently. Her fritters floated over the screen.
Also she compartmented
Bending requires influence. You have none.
Three seconds passed.
A response appeared.
Not yet.
The lights in one sect of Horizon Gate flitted — just formerly — ahead stabilizing.
Li Wei looked up sprucely. " Okay. That's new. "
Xinyue stood. " Now it's particular. "
The coming morning, Horizon Gate awoke to controlled chaos.
A marketing action launched without final blessing. A procurement contract stalledmid-signature. Amid-level superintendent was " invited " to lunch by a family influence group that had no business knowing his name.
The operative was no longer bruiting .
They were drawing lines.
Xinyue called an exigency leadership session. The room filled snappily, pressure concentrated over politeness like thin ice over deep water.
She stood at the head of the table, calm, centered, her presence silencing the room before she indeed spoke.
" We aren't under attack, " she said. " We're being studied. And we're going to let them believe their assignments are working. "
Eyes widened.
" We'll introduce controlled vacillation. Predictable resistance. Clean, measurable responses. "
Li Wei raised an eyebrow. " You're letting them win? "
She met his aspect
. " I'm letting them suppose they understand us. "
Jun's voice cut in vocally. " We're baiting the shadow. "
Xinyue jounced. " And when they step closer "
Her lips twisted noiselessly.
" We close the trap. "
Late that night, Li Wei set up her on the rooftop theater .
Wind teased loose beaches of her hair. The megacity stretched endlessly beyond her, indifferent and luminous.
" They're pushing you harder, " he said still. " I can see it. "
She didn't look down from the skyline. " They want to know where I fracture. "
He stepped closer. " And where do you? "
She turned also, eyes steady, unguarded.
" Right then, " she said vocally. " With you. "
He reached for her hand, their fritters intertwining naturally, painlessly.
" also they'll noway find it, " he replied.
Far below, business continued its endless inflow — ignorant that nearly over, two constants were preparing to outthink a shadow that believed tolerance was power.
And in the quiet space between jiffs and strategy, Xinyue formerly knew
The operative had just made their first mistake.
They had come near enough to be seen.