For half a second the city saw truth.
Then the feed corrected itself—Wen Qingmei's smile refilled every screen as if nothing had happened. But in that half-second, something broke that no algorithm could repair.
1. The Boardroom Fracture
The applause faltered. A whisper cut through the room like a current.
"Did you see that—her name—on the feed?"
Phones flickered; some froze on the frame that shouldn't exist.
Liuxian's pulse steadied. He used their shock like oxygen.
"Gentlemen," he said, voice calm as glass, "you wanted transparency. Consider that your first sample."
Wen Qingmei's nails pressed half-moons into his sleeve. "Smile," she hissed through her teeth. "You smile, or we both die right here."
He smiled. Cameras loved the expression; they didn't see the calculation behind it.
Across town, in the east annex elevator, Xueyi's counter-tone finally drowned the panic. She stumbled out, clutching the stolen drives.
"Lin," she rasped into the comm, "upload proof packet to every neutral server. Red-label it Phoenix."
"Already cooking," Lin replied. "But Wen's starting counter-wipes. You've got maybe five minutes before LEGACY self-purges."
"Then we end it in five."
2. The Switch
Liuxian moved for the comms door. A guard blocked him.
He didn't slow—one twist, one silent drop. The cameras stayed on Wen while he disappeared into the corridor's dark throat.
Inside the old comms room the air smelled of dust and burned plastic.
He reached the main switchboard, punched in a six-digit code—Xueyi's birthday.
The monitor blinked:
ROUTE CHANGE > EXTERNAL FEED — PHOENIX NODE 1
"Let's rewrite the evening news," he muttered.
3. Phoenix Broadcast
Across the city, billboards and office TVs bled white, then bloomed into Xueyi's recorded voice—clear, steady, undeniable.
"My name is Bai Xueyi. I was Subject Zero of Project Bride.
I was designed to love on command.
But I remember every command you gave—and I refuse them all."
People stopped mid-crosswalks. Screens in cafés, trains, airports—all played her face.
Wen's smile on the live feed cracked; the board turned to stone.
"Cut the transmission!" she screamed.
Too late. Phoenix Node 1 mirrored itself through public networks faster than the wipes could follow. Every frame carried metadata: Handler = Wen Qingmei.
4. The Fire Returns
Security poured into the hall. Wen tore the engagement ring from her finger and hurled it at Liuxian as he re-entered, sweat at his temple.
"You think this saves you?!" she spat. "The world loves order. They'll choose me."
He met her gaze. "Then let them love a lie. It's what you taught them."
She raised a small remote—last weapon. "LEGACY still listens."
Before she could press it, a shot rang from the doorway. The remote shattered.
Han Ze lowered the smoking pistol. "My turn to interrupt weddings."
Wen stared, betrayal and fury warring in her eyes. "You traitor!"
"Wrong word," Han Ze said. "I changed teams."
He turned to Liuxian. "Get her out."
5. Escape
Xueyi reached the lobby doors as security alarms blared. Liuxian caught her wrist.
"You always arrive when everything burns," she said.
"I only follow the smoke."
They ran through corridors thick with panic, past board members shielding faces from cameras. In the plaza, thunder rolled—literal this time, not metaphor. Rain fell hard enough to wash the blood from their hands.
Behind them, the building's top screens erupted once more—Phoenix's sigil blazing gold against the storm.
6. The Crown of Glass
Atop the tower, Wen Qingmei stood alone. Broken glass glittered around her feet like a fallen coronet. The city below flickered between two faiths—Eden's order and Phoenix's defiance.
She pressed one bloodied finger to a console shard.
LEGACY > Transfer Node 2: EDEN
Her whisper vanished into the wind. "Long live the queen."
The lightning struck. Power grids coughed and went dark.
When the storm cleared, Shanghai's skyline glowed in patches—half dead, half reborn.
Dr. Lin's voice came through static: "Phoenix node stabilized. But something… moved inside Eden."
Xueyi looked toward the horizon where the towers blinked like tired stars.
"Then the real war," she said, "has just begun."