January 2023 – Monday, 6:12 AM | SoHo,Lower East Side, Manhattan
The world was still asleep when Ethan Vale.
No motivational alarm. No loud affirmations. Just silence, cold air, and a ritual that had become automatic.
He didn't check his phone.
He opened his notebook and flipped to the back pages—"ARGOS: Structural Notes".
> "Stage I: Behavioral Input → Mood Identification → Suggestive Response Loop."
"No data for dopamine. Just behavior. Focus on prediction, not manipulation."
He scribbled one more line beneath it:
> "We don't fix people. We help them outsmart their own chaos."
---
7:03 AM – Quiet Alliance
By 7, he was at a small co-working loft in SoHo. Not a startup hub. Just a quiet floor with wide tables, cheap rent, and no distractions.
At the far end sat Rayan Das, an Indian data science grad who hadn't quite fit into any VC-backed startup. Brilliant. Disillusioned. Suspicious of authority.
Ethan had met him in a free AI ethics forum online. He'd earned Rayan's trust not through flattery, but through respecting his paranoia.
"You're early," Rayan muttered, not looking up from his screen.
"You're here," Ethan replied.
That was their version of affection.
---
7:28 AM – Micro-Prototyping Begins
They started building—not a product, but a logic engine.
No UI. No pitch deck.
Just a web of functions that could track how people acted under stress. Not what they said. What they typed. How fast. What they deleted. What words they returned to.
"It's almost like a ghost mirror," Rayan said after a few hours. "Like we're catching what they don't know they're leaking."
"That's the idea," Ethan said. "We track patterns that whisper, not scream."
---
1:43 PM – An Unexpected Visitor
The elevator opened with a chime. Ethan turned slightly—Leona Vire stepped out, holding two coffees.
"You don't drink this stuff," she said, handing him one.
"No," Ethan said, accepting it anyway. "But I accept offerings from spies."
She sat down beside him, scanning the code on Rayan's screen.
"Ethan... She is quite influencing and a name in business field." Rayan muttered while watching Leona and Ethan.
"Okay... " He just said a word and then "should we focus on this hmmmm?"
Rayan and Leona turned, focusing on details.
"Impressive. You're not just another idea guy, huh?"
"Not anymore."
Leona studied his profile for a moment—unshaven, hoodie zipped halfway, eyes cold but focused.
"You're building a cathedral while everyone else is chasing tents," she said.
He didn't respond.
She tapped the table. "You'll need exposure. Distribution. Eventually investors."
"I'll have leverage before I let money in," Ethan replied. "I don't want funds. I want silence while I sharpen my ideas."
---
4:19 PM – Exit Strategy
As Leona left, she paused near the door.
"You're a cold one, Ethan. But not heartless."
Ethan glanced at her, unblinking.
"You have to be cold to build something warm."
She smiled faintly, waving hands towards Rayan as a fellow mate and disappeared down the hallway.
---
8:01 PM – The Philosophy Layer
That night, Ethan sat alone under a desk lamp, reviewing The Laws of Human Nature. He annotated heavily:
> "People are governed by invisible drives. (Often called dreams ...) Make your work satisfy their hidden urges."
"Use absence to create respect. Show too much, and they'll think they've measured you."
"Attach your work to a deeper emotional resonance. The mind follows what soothes the heart."
He underlined one phrase three times:
> "Don't sell them a product. Sell them a better version of themselves."
And then scribbled his mantra beside it:
> "Work silently. Move asymmetrically. Let them see the shadow before the flame."
ARGOS wasn't about money. Not yet.
(It was a mirror.
And once the world saw what it reflected—it would either run in fear…
Or beg to look again.)