"Good. Productive.""Get anything quotable?""Probably not. Just people being honest.""That's the best kind of quotable."They settled in for the night. More casual conversation. More stories.Around midnight, lights went out.Everyone in their bunks.And again—Around 2 AM—Lyra climbed up.Slipped in beside Neo."You're going to get caught," he whispered."Haven't yet.""Lyra—""Shhh. How was today?""Good. Weird. But good.""You seemed like you were actually enjoying yourself.""I was. That's the weird part."She kissed his cheek. "Maybe you're not as dead inside as you think.""Debatable.""Get some sleep. Tomorrow's the big day.""What big day?""Adam's fireside chat. When everyone gets to ask the hard questions. See if this company is actually different or just another corporate PR

"I mean—all-hands meetings. The quarterly reviews. That stuff.""Oh. Right."Close call.'Focus. Louis has been here three months. Transferred from Singapore. Doesn't know Adam personally. Stop slipping.'They headed to the lodge.Fireside chat setup. Adam in an armchair. Microphone. Two hundred employees in seats around him.Neo sat in the middle. Not front row—too visible. Not back—too suspicious. Just—middle. Average. Forgettable.Lyra was across the room. Notebook out. Professional mode.Their eyes met for a second.She winked.'Subtle, Lyra. Real subtle.'Adam waited until everyone was seated. "Alright. Here's how this works. Open forum. Ask anything. If I can't answer for legal reasons, I'll tell you why. But otherwise? Nothing's off limits."Silence.Then Jennifer from project management raised her hand. "Why'd you really start Ames Digital?""Because

"I saw people who care. Who believe in something. Who aren't just working for a paycheck." He stared at the ceiling. "I saw Marcus talk about the open-door policy. How he can message Adam at midnight and get a response. That kind of access is insane for a company our size. But we do it. Because we actually care.""What else?""I saw Sarah defend the company when someone questioned if we were really different. She talked about Amazon. About how they treated her like a resource instead of a person. And how here, she's valued. Actually valued.""And Louis? What did Louis do?""Louis mostly stayed quiet. Observed. But he participated. Did the trust exercises. The coding challenges. Built a bridge out of random materials. Roasted marshmallows. Sang folk songs around a campfire.""You sang?""Badly. But yeah."Lyra laughed. "I would've paid to see that.""You were there. You could've watched.""I was maintaining professional distance. Couldn't blow your cover."They lay in comfortable silen

Neo pulled out his laptop. Opened a file he'd been building for months."Douglas and Cassandra's remaining wealth is tied to Carver Heritage Assets. Shell company. Completely leveraged against Von Global contracts.""And when those contracts disappear—""CHA collapses. They lose everything. Estate. Cars. Savings. All of it."Lyra leaned forward. "That's the financial part. What about personal?"Neo pulled up another folder. "I have everything. Douglas's tax evasion going back ten years. Cassandra's affair—photos, hotel receipts, text messages. Their insurance fraud attempt. All documented.""You're going to release it.""Strategically. Leak it to financial press. IRS. Anyone who'll care." He scrolled through files. "By the time I'm done, they won't just be broke. They'll be unemployable. Untouchable. Toxic.""And the personal destruction?"Neo's smile went cold. "That's where it gets interesting. I want

"Was it worth it? Two years of planning. Two years of watching them suffer. Was it worth it?" Neo thought about it. 'Was it worth it? Spending two years isolated in a penthouse. Watching surveillance feeds. Manipulating markets. Destroying lives. Missing out on normal human connection. Building a life around revenge instead of—anything else.' 'Was it worth it?' "I don't know yet," he admitted. "Ask me in a year." "Fair enough. So what now?" "Now I focus on Ames Digital. On building instead of destroying. On being the CEO these people deserve." "And the Carvers?" "Let them fall. They're done. I don't need to do anything else. Gravity'll handle the rest." "What about Alina?" "Stil