The night had n't yet loosened its grip on the megacity when Xinyue woke.
She did n't jolt upright. She did n't hyperventilate. Her eyes simply opened _ calm, apprehensive, formerly calculating. For times, her body had learned the art of rising before peril could completely advertise itself. It was the kind of instinct that noway faded, no matter how high you climbed or how safe your walls came.
Dawn was still an hour down.
Horizon Gate lay quiet, but Xinyue could feel the shift in its palpitation _ subtle, irregular, like a twinkle that had briefly stumbled and recovered. Nearly inside the endless systems that kept the palace alive, commodity had been brushed, nudged, awakened.
She sat up and reached for her tablet.
Jun's communication had formerly arrived.
They tried again.
No interjection marks. No alarm canons. Just that.
Xinyue stood and crossed the room, barefoot against cold marble. The megacity below still lustered in sleep. She imagined hands reaching through libraries, brushing dust off forgotten records, fritters turning runners that had formerly defined her life before Horizon Gate ever knew her name.
They were walking through her history.
And they were doing it precisely.
She reconciled her earpiece. " What did they touch this time "
Jun exhaled still. " Provincial relocation registries. Old orphanage check lines. Relinquishment conveyance records. Some were sealed. Some were buried so deep no bone
Had requested access in over a decade. "
Her jaw tensed, just slightly. " They're mapping the story I did n't write. "
" They're erecting a narrative, " Jun replied. " About you. And about where your foundations might fracture. "
Xinyue looked at her own reflection in the glass.
" They're assuming I still live in those foundations. "
Li Wei set up her in the administrative kitchen an hour latterly, gaping into a mug of coffee she had n't touched.
" You've been awake since before the megacity, " he said vocally.
She gave a faint nod.
" They're digging, " she said. " Not into Horizon Gate. Into me. "
He sat across from her. " They're trying to weaponize your history. "
" They're trying to enjoy it. "
Li Wei leaned forward slightly. " And do they? "
Xinyue eventually took a belt of her coffee.
" No, " she said. " They only enjoy the interpretation that can still be hurt. "
Bymid-morning, the ripple goods began to show.
A inferior critic dithered during a briefing just long enough to notice. A compliance officer twice- checked a train that had formerly been certified. A mate establishment requested evidence of records that had no bearing on current operations.
Nothing disruptive. Nothing overt.
But everything refocused in the same direction.
They were planting a quiet question
Who's she really?
Xinyue gathered her elderly staff in a unrestricted conference room.
The glass walls bedimmed automatically as the room sealed.
" Someone is trying to destabilize our core by touching effects that have nothing to do with this company, " she said calmly. " We'll not respond defensively. We'll respond structurally. "
Jun projected a layered grid of data onto the central table.
" They're trying to rewrite internal perception, " he added. " We can fight by anchoring authority in present performance criteria rather than particular narratives. "
Xinyue jounced. " Begin it moment. I want functional clarity to be louder than curiosity. "
Li Wei leaned back slightly, studying her. " They're circling you like you're still the girl who had to run. "
Her aspect
Flitted.
" That girl does n't live presently. "
Late autumn brought the first particular escalation.
A sealed envelope appeared in Xinyue's private office mailbox.
No courier hand.
No digital trace.
Just paper.
Inside was a single photocopied document.
An orphanage input tally.
Her name.
Her nonage enrollment number.
And in the periphery, handwritten in faint essay
People who start nowhere generally fall back there.
Li Wei set up her standing impeccably still at her office, gaping at it.
" They crossed into your story, " he said still.
" They stepped into my morning, " she replied.
He reached for the paper.
She stopped him gently.
" No, " she said. " Let them suppose I'm reading it. "
She folded the paper sluggishly and placed it back into the envelope.
" They're trying to remind me of a interpretation of myself they believe still exists. "
Her eyes lifted.
" I'm going to show them how wrong they are. "
That night, Horizon Gate still released an internal translucency communiqué.
Not public.
Not protective.
A clean, controlled reaffirmation of governance clarity, performance durability, and structural independence inked tête-à-tête by Xinyue.
It did n't mention rumors.
It did n't admit questions.
It simply reminded everyone who the center was.
Li Wei watched her sign the final blessing.
" You're turning their pressure into authority, " he said.
She smiled noiselessly. " Pressure makes diamonds. "
At 206 a.m., Jun's system resounded again.
" They've stopped digging. "
Xinyue listed her head. " They've noticed the resistance. "
" Or they've learned commodity. "
Her fritters floated over the office.
" also it's time they learn commodity from me. "
She compartmented a communication into the same controlled channel they had used.
You're looking in the wrong place.
Seconds passed.
Also the reply came.
Where should we be looking?
Xinyue's lips twisted.
In front of you.
Far down, in the shadow room, defenses flitted with new data.
The operative leaned forward sluggishly.
" She is n't breaking, " they muttered.
" No, " they smiled.
" She's inviting. "
In Horizon Gate, Xinyue stood by the window again, the megacity spangling beneath her like a circuit of stars.
" They suppose my history is my weakness, " she rumored.
" But they forget commodity. "
She uncurled, posture calm and unyielding.
" My history is the forge. "
" And they just stepped inside it. "