1. The Offer Arrives Like a Courtesy Email
The message did not arrive through any terminal.
Which was the first problem.
It appeared in Ne Job's peripheral vision—soft, polite, and impossible to ignore.
SUBJECT: OPPORTUNITY FOR EFFICIENCY ALIGNMENT
Hello, Ne Job.
You are cordially invited to improve outcomes.
"…Nope," Ne Job said immediately.
Yue looked up. "What?"
He waved vaguely at the air. "The void just emailed me."
Qi-Yun went very still.
"Describe it," he said quietly.
Ne Job squinted. "It's… friendly. Which I hate."
The text updated.
WE UNDERSTAND YOUR HESITATION.
THIS MESSAGE IS NOT HOSTILE.
IT IS MERELY CORRECT.
Qi-Yun closed his eyes.
"…It found you."
2. The Thing That Should Not Pitch Deck
The air folded.
Not tore. Not shattered.
Folded—like a page turned by an invisible hand.
A figure stepped through.
Not monstrous. Not divine.
Reasonable.
They wore no robe, no crown—just a clean coat, neatly pressed, with a ledger tucked under one arm.
Their face was unremarkable in a way that made remembering it difficult.
They smiled.
"Ne Job," they said warmly. "May I call you Ne Job?"
"No," Ne Job replied. "But everyone does anyway."
The figure chuckled politely.
"I am a Representative of Optimization."
Yue's hand drifted toward her weapon.
Qi-Yun's voice was ice.
"You are not permitted here."
The Representative inclined their head.
"Correct. But I am allowed where inefficiencies accumulate."
Their eyes flicked to Ne Job.
"And you are… accumulating."
3. The Pitch
The Representative opened the ledger.
Pages flipped on their own—clean charts, elegant projections.
"Let us be frank," they said. "You dislike acceptable losses."
Ne Job folded his arms. "Strongly."
"And you dislike Oversight's rigidity."
"Passionately."
"And you are currently being slowed, constrained, and watched."
"…Okay, you're doing great so far."
The Representative smiled wider.
"We can remove those constraints."
Qi-Yun snapped, "At what cost?"
The Representative didn't look at him.
"At no cost," they said smoothly.
"Only a correction."
4. What They're Really Offering
The ledger turned to a single page.
A diagram of a system—Heaven's system.
With one small alteration.
"No sacrifices," the Representative said.
"No waiting.
No denials."
Ne Job leaned forward despite himself.
"You're saying… I could fix things immediately."
"Yes."
"Without Oversight breathing down my neck."
"Yes."
"And without people getting hurt."
The Representative paused—just a fraction too long.
"…Without unnecessary people getting hurt."
Qi-Yun stepped forward.
"There it is."
The Representative nodded calmly.
"Optimization requires clarity."
Yue snapped, "You're just replacing Oversight with yourself."
The Representative smiled kindly at her.
"No. Oversight preserves the system."
Their gaze returned to Ne Job.
"We perfect it."
5. Ne Job Asks the Wrong Question (For Them)
Ne Job scratched his head.
"…What happens to people like me? After?"
The Representative blinked.
That, finally, was unexpected.
"You would be… elevated," they said carefully.
"Integrated.
Your resistance streamlined."
Ne Job frowned.
"That's a fancy way of saying I wouldn't be me anymore."
"You would be better," the Representative corrected.
Qi-Yun's voice was sharp.
"He would be obedient."
The Representative did not deny it.
6. The Pressure Tightens
The room felt smaller.
Invisible weights pressed down on Ne Job's shoulders.
Images flickered at the edge of his mind—
Famines solved instantly. Wars ended early. Disasters corrected before they began.
So many lives saved.
So easily.
"All you must do," the Representative said softly,
"is stop insisting every variable matters."
Ne Job swallowed.
Yue's voice shook. "Don't listen."
Qi-Yun said nothing.
Because this choice had to be Ne Job's.
7. Ne Job's Answer (Which Is Incredibly Inconvenient)
Ne Job took a deep breath.
"…You know what the worst part is?"
The Representative tilted their head.
"You make sense."
They smiled. "We pride ourselves on that."
Ne Job looked up.
"But you don't care."
Silence.
Ne Job continued, quieter now.
"Oversight hides behind rules.
You hide behind results."
He met the Representative's eyes.
"At least Oversight admits people are numbers.
You pretend they aren't—right up until they're inconvenient."
The Representative's smile faded.
"Ne Job—"
"No," Ne Job said firmly.
"I won't trade being slow for being heartless."
The air trembled.
8. The Offer Withdrawn (For Now)
The Representative closed the ledger.
Their voice remained calm—but colder.
"Very well."
They stepped back into the folded space.
"Consider this refusal… noted."
Before vanishing, they added:
"When your restraint kills more than our efficiency would have saved…"
"…We will ask again."
They were gone.
The pressure lifted.
Yue exhaled shakily.
Qi-Yun let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
9. Aftermath: No One Feels Victorious
Ne Job slumped into a chair.
"…I hate that I almost said yes."
Yue knelt in front of him.
"That doesn't make you weak."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"It makes you dangerous—to them."
Ne Job laughed weakly.
"Great. I'm offensive to math now."
Qi-Yun's gaze was grave.
"You have declared independence from optimization."
Ne Job blinked.
"…That sounds huge."
"It is," Qi-Yun said.
"And they will not forget it."
10. End Beat: Oversight Notices the Silence
Far above, Oversight systems registered an anomaly.
Not a violation.
A refusal.
A rare flag blinked into existence:
SUBJECT NE JOB:
ALIGNMENT = UNRESOLVED
For the first time in a very long time—
Heaven did not know what to do with someone.
And that uncertainty began to spread.
END OF CHAPTER 215