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every way. We are on track for full implementation in the next twenty-four hours."
    The statement sounded far more convincing in the room than how it landed in his heart. Nonetheless, the deed was done. They would move forward.
    Dhe backed off, nodding triumphantly, signaling they were finished here. The other men stood in unison. Suit coat buttons were refastened and notebooks gathered.
    Junjie retrieved his materials, bowed, and then exited the room. His footsteps, far too loud through hallways built to hold secrets, left him wondering anew: had he done the right thing, the best thing. With the door shut behind him the men talked. Dhe spoke first.
    "He was not so credible this time. I believe we may have to watch him more closely. We have come too far to allow his weakness to jeopardize the good of the whole."
    He was so quick to play the fake patriotism card.
    "And need I remind you... the good of the whole is why we are doing this."
    General Chien Wie stared back, unflinching in the face of the stinging rebuke. He knew enough about Dhe to obey him but he would not honor the man. In his long career he'd stood beside many of the same ilk, hiding naked ambition behind a false love of country. His next words came slowly but confidently.
    "There are sufficient measures in place. The young businessman will finish what he has started."
    "And then?"
    "And then he will not be any more trouble, or any more use... to us."
    Dhe turned toward the door, expressing nothing—neither acknowledgment nor disagreement—and simply left.

 
     
     
     
    SEVEN
     
     
     
     
    How foolish, Junjie thought to himself. Did he actually believe being forced to decide, to move forward, would bring him peace? That stepping over the line would cure him of his anguish? No, the meeting had only made things worse
     
     
    Spinning his leather executive chair around and then sitting down heavily, Junjie peered outward again into the thick cloud-cover.
    Perfect.
    The irony was not lost on the young executive. The weight he bore was real. The fact someone like himself carried this burden? As close to an absurdity as could be imagined.
    In Chinese culture two things: honor and power, matter for much. Junjie lacked both. As a young man he would be required to bide his time before commanding other's respect. Given a normal life expectancy this would come, as this deficit was due only to a lack of accumulated years on the planet. The second issue, though—power—remained as something entirely out of his control.
    Junjie held no misconceptions about how business got done in his country. The corporate structure here mirrored much of the world's, where those in positions of influence often came from lineages of means. In every age, he understood, the myth of the outsider rising to glory was exactly that: a myth. In the real world, tribal and clan dominance was as old as humanity itself, only morphing from one epoch to another through the transitional forms of royalty, democratic political power, and economic clout. Junjie knew how these things went, that a family business is probably more family than it is business.
    And yet here he was. Dawn Star was enjoying a stunning growth trajectory, outbidding more established tech firms and then having performed better than anyone thought possible. Junjie's team had rapidly gained a reputation and standing that usually took much longer to forge. In an ever-modernizing China this had become more common—a young venture growing this way—especially in the fields of communication and data management. A currently uninterrupted boom in this sector had been in play since the late 90s, by most commentator's timetables. This trendline made successes like theirs far more possible with every passing decade. So no, the factor standing out in this storyline as odd was not the company but its founder. In many ways his name shouldn't be found in the text at all.
    Junjie's people arose not from the elite of Beijing or Hong Kong but