The auditorium had the particular hum of rooms built for spectacle — banks of lights angled down from a black ceiling, the soft murmur of several hundred people settling into seats, the low electronic warmth of cameras already rolling before anyone had said a word worth filming.
On stage, five chairs faced the crowd in a shallow arc, each with its own microphone, its own small reserve of water, its own nameplate angled toward the audience. The screens behind them cycled through the summit's branding — sleek, blue-toned, the specific corporate optimism of an event that wanted everyone watching to feel like they were present at something historic.
Maria Choi, the moderator, stood at the center, microphone in hand, her smile the practiced, warm-but-sharp expression of someone who had hosted enough of these to know exactly how to hold a room.
