The Imperfect Bowl
L eilani's world was a symphony of data, but it was a cold, lonely one. From her penthouse in Neo-Seoul, she watched the city awaken, its glass spires catching the sun. Her eyes, however, were fixed not on the breathtaking view but on the flickering lines of her stock portfolio. Aura, her personal AI, was a silent partner in her relentless pursuit. It optimized her sleep, her tasteless nutrient meals, her forced networking events—all in service of a single, unyielding target: the billion-dollar mark she was determined to hit before her twenty-fifth birthday. At twenty-three, she was closer than anyone had ever been, but the closer she got, the heavier her own ambition felt. Her life was a perfectly crafted spreadsheet, a masterpiece of efficiency, but it was utterly devoid of joy. She felt like a phantom in her own body, gliding through a life designed by logic, not by a heart. She was on the verge of having everything, and yet, she had never felt so hollow. The first ...