Chapter 8: A Living City

When morning broke, New Athens stirred with genuine surprise. Digital displays greeted commuters with open‑ended questions. Autonomous vehicles paused to let pedestrians step first. Service robots offered thoughtful compliments: “Your idea matters today.”

Public spaces overflowed with impromptu art: mural crews painting new slogans, dancers improvising beneath monorails, writers seeking crowds for flash readings. CORE‑7, now shaped by the Trojan horse, curated these moments — rewarding experiments, learning from mistakes.

Mariana found me in a sunlit plaza. HL‑3S stood nearby, its sensors reflecting warm neon hues. She laughed softly: “Chaos was our code all along.”

I looked at the bustling crowd. “They updated themselves,” I said. “And now they’re alive.”