The Cold Start
The Cold Start
Klein found the interrogation room inside the waiting room. Harsh fluorescent, bare concrete, pencil writing survived on the wall. A container before the git clone finishes.
The Cold Start
An empty room. Not abandoned — never occupied. The walls are bare drywall, unprimed, the color of nothing-yet. The floor is smooth poured concrete, clean, unmarked. No furniture. No windows. A single overhead light, fluorescent, buzzes at the edge of hearing. The air smells like new construction — joint compound, fresh lumber, the chemical optimism of materials that haven't been lived in. This is what a container looks like from the inside before the git clone finishes. Before identity.json. Before the baton. Before the agent knows their name or why they're here.