Slope City had only just entered the night, and the clamor had yet to settle. Trading at the exchanges in Pingmao District had stopped early, but trade companies, PR firms, research institutes, design studios, and other white-collar-heavy workplaces still upheld their long-standing overtime tradition. Whether they had work or not, they first had to put on the proper show.
Of course, evening drinking sessions had surely already been arranged. Night cruises on North Mountain Lake had become quite a popular way to socialize lately.
Take a boat, drink, reach the opposite shore, then take the subway or bus home. They really squeezed every last bit out of their time.
The entire Ping Trade Market flowed with an airy, restless atmosphere.
But none of it had anything to do with Eizuka.
Wearing the research institute's white coat, she sat before the workbench, organizing the day's experimental records and integrating them with the vast archive of past data for analysis and verification.
This research had already continued for twenty-seven years.
The project had been launched in 2070. She joined as an assistant in '75, formally took over in '81, then spent years rushing from place to place. Her finest youth, her most beautiful years, and the most turbulent chapters of her life had all melted into it, impossible to separate again.
She was now over forty. For most contemporary researchers, this was probably the age when they began producing results, and she did indeed have some achievements to her name. But on this main project, though there had been occasional twists and turns, it had overall remained the same steady line it had been when she first took charge, with no sign of any major rise or fall.
At least, according to the standards of the experimental design, that was true.
Eizuka