"So now you see," Katsuro said, his voice calm enough to be mistaken for indifference. "It was never live."
For several seconds no one spoke.
The words refused to settle inside the room.
"But..." Raina frowned, still trying to make sense of everything. She looked toward the monitor that had shown tens of thousands of viewers only moments ago. "...what about all those views?"
"The views?" Katsuro glanced at the frozen monitor before looking back at her. "Bots."
He spoke the word as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Khali..." A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Though she insists everyone simply calls her the Girl... manipulated the viewer count, the comments, the engagement. Everything Kurosawa saw on those screens existed only for him. A stage built specifically for his eyes."
The silence shattered.
"No!"
Kuro snatched the camera from Tengu's hands and slammed it into the concrete floor.
The plastic casing exploded into pieces.
