The megacity did n't know it was holding its breath.
Morning slid across the glass skin of Horizon Gate in long golden wastes, painting the palace in quiet brilliance. Commuters swamped the thoroughfares below, ignorant that nearly between contracts and law, an unnoticeable war had just crossed its first true boundary.
Inside the palace, Xinyue stood at the panoramic window of her private office, arms folded approximately, aspect
Unfocused. Her reflection floated in the glass _ calm eyes, relaxed shoulders, controlled stillness. Anyone who saw her would have allowed
She was simply enjoying the view.
Only Jun knew better.
" They're not testing presently, " he said vocally through the earpiece. " They're acting. "
Her eyes stoned. " Where? "
" Three pressure points. Logistics, digital authorization, and _ " he dithered, " _ particular channel access. "
Li Wei looked up from the settee, where he'd been pretending to read daily summaries. " particular? "
Jun's fritters danced across unseen keys. " Someone tried to collude your private communication web. It was clean. No admonitions touched off. But they were n't searching for lines. They were mapping geste
. frequence. Time gaps. Emotional weighting. "
Li Wei set the tablet away sluggishly. " They're trying to understand how she thinks and how she feels. "
Xinyue eventually turned from the window.
" Good, " she said still. " also we're done pretending. "
The first public move came before noon.
A reputed fiscal publication released an investigative piece questioning Horizon Gate's long- term stability. The composition did n't charge. It did n't libel. It simply asked questions _ precise, unsettling questions about expansion timing, superintendent attention, and " dependence on centralized leadership. "
Dependence on Xinyue.
Middle operation began encouraging the composition in hushed vestments. Partner enterprises requested explanation meetings. The word threat crept into internal memos like a slow infection.
Li Wei stood behind her president as she read the composition in silence.
" They're not attacking you directly, " he said. " They're introducing mistrustfulness. "
" They're introducing authorization, " Xinyue replied. " They want people to feel allowed to question me. "
Jun chimed in. " And if that authorization spreads, fractures follow. "
She closed the composition and stood.
" also we remove the authorization. "
That autumn, Xinyue tête-à-tête walked into three departmental meetings unannounced.
No cortege . No preamble.
She heeded further than she spoke. Asked small questions. Praised still. Diverted gently. She did n't dismiss enterprises _ she clarified them. She did n't deny mistrustfulness _she framed it. Every vacillation she encountered, she absorbed into calm certainty.
By the time she left each room, posture had uncurled. Voices sustained. Trustre-anchored.
Li Wei followed like a constant graveness well, present but invisible.
" They tried to shake your shadow, " he muttered latterly. " But your shadow moved with you. "
She smiled noiselessly. " That's because it belongs to me. "
At 638 p.m., Jun strengthened in his president.
" They've escalated. "
Xinyue looked up. " How? "
" Your former relinquishment records. "
Li Wei set.
Jun continued. " Someone penetrated sealed indigenous libraries. They did n't download anything but they opened the records. That alone should have been insolvable. "
Silence spread in the room.
Xinyue did n't speak at first.
Her aspect
Drifted _ not to defenses, not to windows but inward, where old corridors of memory still lived.
" They're digging into my origin, " she said eventually.
Li Wei stepped closer. " That's particular. "
" That's deliberate. "
Jun swallowed. " They're looking for your pressure points. "
Her lips twisted, slow and dangerous.
" also they've just made their first mistake. "
Night fell over the megacity in gray rain.
Xinyue stood alone on the rooftop theater , the scent of wet leaves drifting in the air. The world below glowed in shattered lines, ignorant of the old doors that had just been touched.
Li Wei joined her still.
" They're trying to destabilize you, " he said. " Not your company. You. "
She jounced. " Which means they do n't suppose they can beat Horizon Gate. "
He studied her face. " They suppose they can beat you. "
She turned to him.
" They can try. "
He reached for her hand, thumb brushing her knuckles formerly. " You're not alone presently. "
Her voice softened. " I know. "
At 13 p.m., Jun's systems registered an incoming translated transmission.
Not a hack.
Not a breach.
A communication.
Xinyue stood beside him as it decrypted onto the screen.
Your conglomerate stands on discipline, fidelity, and memory.
Memory is where conglomerates fall.
Let's talk.
No hand.
No trace.
Just presence.
Xinyue did n't blink.
She compartmented
You're formerly talking.
Three seconds passed.
Also
OK. Also you're ready.
Lights bedimmed compactly across one sect of Horizon Gate.
Li Wei murmured, " They really like theatrics. "
Xinyue smiled noiselessly.
" No, " she said. " They like being seen. "
She turned to Jun. " Open a controlled line. Filter everything. "
Jun dithered. " You're letting them speak directly to you? "
" Yes. "
Li Wei's eyes met hers. " You're walking toward them. "
She squeezed his hand gently.
" I'm letting them suppose I am. "
Far across the megacity, in a room where every wall was a screen, the shadow watched Horizon Gate palpitation vocally in the rain.
They studied Xinyue's profile, her patterns, her pauses, her connections.
" She's stronger than anticipated, " they muttered.
" But everyone bends. "
They leaned forward, eyes flashing.
" And I've just set up the place where she formerly broke. "
In Horizon Gate, Xinyue stood impeccably still, watching the megacity gleam.
" They suppose they've touched my history, " she rumored.
" But they do n't yet understand. "
Her reflection in the glass smiled noiselessly.
" My history did n't make me weak. "
" It made me unbreakable. "