Chapter 164

Chapter 164 ELENA The Shanghai Integration Center buzzed with nervous energy as I prepared for what would either be humanity's greatest collaborative experiment or its most spectacular failure. Three weeks had passed since the Council's authorization of pilot programs, and I found myself coordinating the first large-scale test of true symbiotic partnership protocols. Standing before the assembled team—twelve enhanced individuals and twelve conventional experts—I felt the weight of six billion people's future resting on the success of this single initiative. The holographic displays surrounding us showed real-time data from similar pilots launching simultaneously across six continents. "Ladies and gentlemen," I began, my voice carrying the authority that had emerged from sixteen months of global integration management, "we are about to attempt something that has never been done in human history: genuine equality between enhanced and conventional capabilities in collaborative problem-sol