Night fell.
Liang Jian stood at the massive, bulletproof window, looking down at the galaxy of lights that was the city below.
Every light, a home. A story. In his past life, he had been just one of those insignificant little lights.
He had been locked in this suite for two days. Treated like a precious, dangerous package. Watched, tested, passively accepting his fate.
He was done with it.
A new emotion, a potent cocktail of ambition and utter exhaustion with his own fear, was burning in his chest.
What was he afraid of?
Being discovered? Being dissected in a lab like some alien specimen?
But what about his old life? The life of Liang Jian, the 9-to-5 coder, the tired drone? That life was over. The “Game Over” screen had already flashed the moment the electricity surged.
He had nothing left to lose.
And everything to gain.
His gaze swept across the horizon, as if he could see the entire North American continent laid out before him.
He thought of his favorite game: Civilization.
This whole situation… wasn't it just a game of Civ on an impossibly realistic difficulty setting?
Winning the election was a Domination Victory.
The assassins and political rivals were Barbarians and competing Civilizations.
The media was a tool to manage War Weariness.
Emily Carter was a high-stat Hero Unit he’d been given at the start.
And the voters… they were the resources he needed to cultivate.
As he reframed his entire predicament within this structure, all his fear and confusion evaporated.
In its place was a thrilling, chilling excitement. The excitement of a master player sitting down to a new, ultimate challenge.
He wasn't Trump. He wasn't even Liang Jian anymore.
He was The Player.
“I’m done with playing defense,” he whispered in Mandarin to his reflection in the dark glass.
“This is my game now.”
“And that means I make the rules.”
He turned, picked up the suite’s internal intercom, and pressed the call button.
“Agent Carter, please come to my room.”
His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady. It wasn't Trump’s boom or Liang Jian’s hesitation. It was something new. A cold, absolute confidence.
A few seconds later, a knock. Emily Carter entered.
“Sir? You needed something?”
Liang Jian turned to face her, and for the first time, he met her gaze directly, as an equal.
His eyes were clear and deep, like a supercomputer that had just completed its boot sequence and activated its core program.
“Emily,” he said, his voice calm but imbued with an undeniable, penetrating authority. “I want the complete personnel files on all core members of the campaign staff. The highest-level clearance. I want their financials, their connections, and their psychological evaluations.”
He paused, then delivered his second order.
“And notify everyone. Emergency strategy meeting. 0800 tomorrow morning, in the conference room.”
“I’m taking command of this war.”
Emily Carter stood frozen, utterly stunned.
She stared at the man before her, a man who seemed to have been completely rewritten from the inside out. And for the first time, what she felt wasn't suspicion.
It was awe.
The skittish, strange package she had been protecting was gone.
In his place stood a true…
Commander.