Chapter 4

"Jace, I'd like to discuss something with you," Lewis said with a smile.

"What is it?" I asked.

He explained, "The company is undergoing a restructuring, and the tech department is streamlining its staff."

My heart sank.

Lewis continued, "You've been with the company for ten years now, Jace. You're one of our long-timers. But your performance hasn't quite met expectations..."

I asked, "Where exactly am I lacking in performance?"

"Uh..." Lewis paused, a bit flustered. "I mean... your output just hasn't been enough."

I countered, "Mr. Horton, the data cleaning module I optimized last month boosted system efficiency by 12%. Doesn't that count as results?"

Lewis's expression shifted. "Wasn't that module developed by Edward?"

I smiled. "Mr. Horton, the code repository has all the commit records. I wrote every single line of that module."

The conference room fell silent for a few seconds.

Sandra cleared her throat. "Jace, what Mr. Horton means is that the company wants to move you to a different position."

"What position?" I asked.

She replied, "Technical support."

Technical support? That was just the frontline customer service team. It was all about handling users' complaints.

I asked, "You want me to do customer service?"

Sandra replied, "Not customer service. Technical support. Your pay stays the same, we're just tweaking your responsibilities a bit."

I asked in disbelief, "After ten years in the tech department, you want me to move to technical support?"

Lewis sighed and said, "Jace, the company is in a tough spot. You know how things are. Times are hard, and we need to cut costs and boost efficiency..."

I cut him off, saying, "Mr. Horton, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Lewis replied.

I asked, "Who was the one who wrote the core algorithm?"

Lewis was caught off guard.

I pressed, "Tell me, has your son Edward ever written a single line of code?"

"Jace!" Sandra shot him a glare. "Watch your attitude!"

I replied, "I'm just stating the facts. Every line of that algorithm was written by me. In the past ten years, I've upgraded it 87 times. Every single update is in the repo, with timestamps and my ID on every commit."

The conference room went dead silent.

I stood up. "You can transfer me to technical support. But there's something you need to know first."

"What is it?" Lewis asked.

I replied, "That algorithm's core framework has never had proper documentation."

Lewis's face went pale.

I continued, "I'm the only one who knows how it operates, inside and out. If I walk away, nobody will be able to keep it running."

With that, I turned and walked out of the office without another word.

As I was leaving, he heard Lewis calling after me. He didn't look back.

Back at my desk, I booted up my computer and started organizing my stuff.

I didn't have much personal stuff. Just a mug, a potted plant, and a few tech books. And a single photo.

It was a group photo from the company's very first team-building event, ten years ago. In the photo, I was grinning from ear to ear.

Back then, I honestly thought I'd be here for the rest of my career. I thought hard work would always pay off. I thought code never lied.

Then, I finally got it. Code would never lie, but people would.

"Hey, Jace."

I heard a voice from behind me. It was Vincent, the new intern.

"What's up?" I asked.

Vincent responded, "I just heard you're getting transferred to technical support?"

I said, "Yeah."

"So... what about the core algorithm?" Vincent asked, sounding a bit worried.

"No idea," I said, shrugging.

Vincent hesitated, then asked, "Jace, did you really create that algorithm?"

I shot him a look. "What do you think?"

"Well..." Vincent scratched his head. "I checked the repo myself. All the commit records are yours. Every line was written by you."

"What do you think?" I asked.

Vincent paused for a moment. "Jace, why don't you just tell everyone the truth?"

I asked, "Would it even make a difference?"

He said, "At least... people would know what really happened."

I gave him a wry smile. "Vincent, how long have you been at the company?"

"Three months," Vincent replied.

I said, "Three months... Stick around for three more years, and you'll understand."

"Understand what?" Vincent asked.

I replied, "You'll see that sometimes, telling the truth doesn't change a thing."

I didn't bother going home that night. I hung around the office until two in the morning. It wasn't overtime. I was just staring at my code.

Every single line I'd written over the past ten years... From my first function to the last module and from my first commit to the final tweak, every line had my employee ID tagged at the end. CY-0217.

That was my mark. It was the mark that proved I was here.

I opened a folder. Inside were all the documents I'd collected over the past ten years.

Technical proposals, design docs, test reports, optimization logs... 487 files in total. Every single one was my blood, sweat, and tears.