Against the Algorithm

Chapter 64: Before the Game Began

Jinyang gave a half laugh, unsure. "I thought she was just studying him. He's not going to care—"

Kazime shot her a look.

She quieted.

"You think that man wouldn't care?" Kazime muttered. "The moment he finds out there's someone dissecting his patterns, reviewing his match behavior, decoding his decisions and it's not for media, not for clicks, not even for fan validation, but because she finds him interesting?" He turned his eyes toward Kaya. "That man's going to take one look at her and decide she's his."

Kaya nodded slightly, voice smooth. "And once Lu Sicheng makes a decision... there's no changing his mind."

Kazime gestured with both hands, exasperated. "Exactly. He'll make her his dissertation, his research project, his whole damn galaxy. And Yao—Yao with her soft voice and those big eyes and her ridiculous habit of forgiving people who don't deserve it—she'll never see it coming."

"She won't stand a chance." Kaya said calmly.

"She won't understand what's happening until it's too late," Kazime added. "And by then, he'll already be halfway through planning the wedding and clearing out half of Shenzhen just to keep her away from anyone he doesn't approve of."

Jinyang looked between them, then crossed her arms. "Okay, but she's not helpless. She can handle herself—"

"She cried for twenty minutes the first time I told her someone plagiarized her code," Kazime deadpanned. "And then apologized to me for taking up my time, after I had got that little bastard expelled and made it to where he had to leave China."

Jinyang flinched. "...Right."

"She's not helpless," Kaya said, adjusting the sleeves of her blouse. "But she is inexperienced and sunshine incarnate."

"And Lu Sicheng is not."

Kazime let out a long breath and rubbed his jaw. "No contact. No proximity. She finishes her dissertation first or at least is more than half way down with it and is about to turn it in to defend it. Then he can find out."

Kaya nodded, satisfied. "We'll keep her protected. Because once he knows about her..."

Kazime gave a grim chuckle. "There'll be no saving him."

Fourth Flashback

It was one of those rare afternoons when the ZGDX captain actually left the base, not for media, not for press, not for post-scrim meetings but for a scheduled lunch meeting where Chen Kazime had arranged.

Lu Sicheng arrived fifteen minutes early, as was his habit, long fingers flipping idly through his phone, amber eyes sharp even behind his usual expression of complete disinterest. He'd barely sat down at the table when he heard it, Kazime's voice, low and casual, coming from the other side of the room through a half-open door.

"Mm. Yes, she'll be using the study there. No, she doesn't need much—just the desk and stable connection. Her professor insisted on video this time." A pause. The faint sound of him sipping tea. "No, she won't be there for long. Said she'll be out before your driver arrives."

Curiosity flickered, faint but real.

Sicheng raised his eyes slightly and turned his head just enough to catch Kazime walking out of the adjoining room, still holding his phone. "Someone borrowing your study?" he asked lazily, one brow ticking upward.

Kazime glanced over, unconcerned. "Mm. My little sister's best friend. Needed a quiet place for a remote meeting with one of her professors."

"From?"

"Tsinghua. Computer science department." He set his phone down and gave a shrug. "She's a remote enrollment. Said it was easier than moving back and forth between the university and her studio. Bright girl. Quiet. Introverted. Brilliant with systems, apparently."

Sicheng hummed noncommittally, not particularly moved—but then something registered, just faintly, somewhere at the back of his mind.

Not a name.

Not a face.

Just a phrase.

Case study...

He reached lazily for the glass of water set beside him. "What's she studying?"

"Data analysis. Behavioral patterns in performance models. Something with professional gaming metrics layered into predictive performance tracking."

That gave him just enough pause for a blink.

"OPL-related?"

Kazime shrugged again. "Tangentially. I didn't ask for specifics. She's shy about it. Doesn't like talking about her research unless it's required. But she's been working on this dissertation for nearly a year now."

Sicheng tilted his head. He didn't say anything. Not at first. But something tugged at him. He didn't know her name. Hadn't heard of it. Wouldn't have remembered it if it had been said. But something about it settled strangely beneath his skin. Somewhere out there, there was a girl tucked into someone else's study with a headset on, head probably bent over notes and data logs, analyzing patterns. Watching players. Watching him, maybe. If her focus was on high-level strategy, on behavior mapping...

He didn't know why it sat with him the way it did. He just knew he'd remember that. Not today. Not next week. But eventually.

Because Lu Sicheng didn't forget things that lingered.

Notes:

Author's Note: The Muse would like to say that all comments, even small ones, are very much welcomed and they very much enjoy reading them!