Cold rain fell over Galactic Wall Street, turning the polished diamond pavements slick and dark.
The heavy bronze side doors of Vault #1 slammed open.
A wave of armed guards shoved hundreds of young men and women down the wet steps. Books, abacus frames, and personal tea cups clattered across the stones, shattering in the puddles.
Vice-President Jin Bao stood under the gold portico, his face mottled with purple rage. His throat was hoarse from screaming.
“Get out, all of you!” Jin Bao roared, spitting into the rain. “Ingrates! Saboteurs! You refused to operate the shredder arrays! You allowed Mu Lan to steal our private records! Not a single one of you will receive your back wages! I am keeping your pension deposits to cover our court fines!”
A burly guard tore the gray woolen outer coat off a young clerk’s back.
“Coats are bank property,” the guard sneered, tossing the damp fabric into a collection bin. “You leave with the shirts on your backs.”
Lead junior auditor Lin Xiao stood in the freezing drizzle, his thin white shirt already soaked through. He spread his arms to shield an eighteen-year-old apprentice teller named Xiao Mei, who was sobbing into her hands. Beside them, an elderly night janitor named Uncle Zhang leaned against a lamppost, shivering violently.
