The conference room lay at the heart of the command center, a spacious, modern room with tempered-glass walls that offered a view of the busy corridors and staff outside. Concealed LED lights in its four corners provided soft but ample illumination. At its center stood an enormous oval conference table made of fine, dark wood, its mirror-smooth surface reflecting the streams of data on the screen.
More than twenty high-backed chairs surrounded the table, each carefully designed for long meetings, with soft cushions and curved lumbar support. Dorothy sat in a slightly larger chair at one end, a position that allowed her to see everyone present with ease while also signifying her authority and control.
An enormous touchscreen occupied almost an entire wall, displaying maps, live video feeds, and assorted data reports. The images kept changing, but everyone's gaze inevitably returned to District 25, where the images seemed sharper and more threatening than all the others.
A heavy tension filled the air. Everyone could feel that this was not merely another routine meeting, but a discussion of life and death, a decisive moment that could change all their fates.
Though the world outside continued to turn, time seemed to have frozen in this enclosed space. Every ounce of attention was focused on the woman seated at the center and the screen before her.
The change in Dorothy was so obvious that almost everyone could sense it, yet in this atmosphere of fear and unease, no one dared bring it up openly.
Ever since she had suddenly attacked the contract-signing ceremony that day, she had seemed like a different person. Even Noel had begun to find her deeply unfamiliar.
Dorothy was now less like a cold person than a machine without feelings. Even when she spoke to Noel, she no longer