[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-115830-en":3,"doc-seo-115830-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},115830,549768072016,"River Wang","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",1,"Story & Novel","The Loyalty Tests - N Kuronoshio - Chapter One","Sakura Kobayashi navigates a rain-soaked Tokyo under constant surveillance, where intelligent advertising and Technicians use facial recognition and data systems to identify “violators.” Sent to a general screening at the academy for an IQ and psychometric test, she fears personality adjustment due to her existing record and the Empire’s social hierarchy. In Chapter One, Jun Sato meets her, hides a weapon, and escorts her through crowded streets, emphasizing both their business mission and the peril of being noticed by the Technicians.","CHAPTER ONE  \nSakura Kobayashi pulled her raincoat tight, pinching the collar to keep out the water. The plum rains had transformed the road into a river. Water bubbled from the steel grates as the sewers struggled to cope with the deluge. The buzzing electric signs steamed with evaporating water , the lights making each drop a star of neon .  \nShe checked her watch, growing anxious. This was a dangerous place for her to linger. There was too much surveillance: video-drones, security patrols, even the billboards that flashed adverts were watching. Intelligent advertising used facial recognition software to scan the crowd, matching people to data aggregated from emails, on-line profiles and census information. In theory, this was for targeted advertisements that aired commercials tailored to the interests of passersby. As with everything in the Empire, there was another side to the technology. The Technicians used the hardware to spot violators in the Safe Zones, trespassers from the lower classes in the feudal social hierarchy. Violators like her.  \nThe klaxon of a green and white taxi snapped her attention back to the street. With a screech of wet brakes, the cab skidded to a halt in front of a handsome, well-built man in a brown leather jacket who was waving in well-mannered apology at the driver. Relief rippled through her as she realised it was Jun.  \nJun Sato glanced left and right, and noticing Sakura, his face broke into a broad smile revealing two even rows of perfect white teeth. He examined her as he dashed forward. Black-haired and slender, her hands were deep in the pockets of her sand-coloured gabardine trench coat. She had an expression of exhausted worry on her sharply defined face.  \n‘You've not been waiting long, have you?’he asked as he glided under the eaves of the station.  \n‘Just got here.’ Thirty minutes ago.  \nHe smiled at her. A heavy drop of rain rolled down her cheek as she tried to smile back.  \n‘Come on; I found a new place.’ He pulled at her elbow and she stepped into his arms so that they could share the umbrella's protection. ‘Aiai-gasa,’he joked. Writing your names under an umbrella was the Japanese equivalent of writing your names on either side of a love-heart. To the passersby they must have looked like two young lovers meeting for a date. Sometimes, she had to remind herself that they weren’t a couple.  \nAs she gripped his leather-clad bicep with wet fingers, she glimpsed the outline of the machete, faintly visible through his jacket. The thought of that blade cutting through a hand made her feel sick, but if they had to sever fingers and snap bones to get out, then they would do it. It was a stark reminder that this was not a date. They were here on business.  \nThey struggled through the jostling crowd and narrow alleyways of downtown Tokyo, jogging between the eaves of the stores in a futile attempt to avoid the sheets of rain. Each short dash from shop awning to shop awning was accompanied by a timpani beat of water against the umbrella.  \n‘You okay? You seem a bit-’ he didn’t say what.  \n‘I'm fine .’ I’m hoping you won’t ask.  \n‘Come on . I know that look.’  \nShe kept her gaze down to avoid eye-contact, watching instead asher white training shoe smashed into a puddle of water, breaking the shimmering glow of the reflected neon into ripples of light. His concern made her feel happier, even though she didn’t want to talk about tomorrow. She had enough to worry about here and now.  \n‘It's no biggie,’ she said, noticing he was still staring at her. She sighed and continued.‘There's a general screening at academy tomorrow; an IQ test and a psychometric exam . Technicians. I already have a record. If they put me into personality adjustment, I’m screwed.’  \n‘Lucky you. A day with the Technicians telling you they've come to help you become the person you were born to be,’he said imitating the  \ndulcet reassuring voice of the announcer on the government advertisements.  \n‘Because we don't think you were","cbCailMBEzS0p94q","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailMBEzS0p94q","pdf",2006234,8,317,"English","en",105,"# Chapter One\n## Surveillance and targeted advertising\n## Meeting Jun Sato at the station\n## The academy screening and fear of adjustment\n## Moving through downtown Tokyo to avoid recognition","[{\"question\":\"Why does Sakura feel unsafe lingering in the city?\",\"answer\":\"The streets are heavily monitored by video-drones, security patrols, and even billboards using facial recognition to match people to aggregated personal data. The Technicians also use technology to locate violators in Safe Zones, including people like her.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the next academy event Sakura is worried about?\",\"answer\":\"She has a general screening at the academy tomorrow, including an IQ test and a psychometric exam. With her record already on file, she fears being placed into personality adjustment.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Sakura and Jun try to avoid being caught?\",\"answer\":\"They change where they go through the city to avoid predictability. Staying off the radar of the Technicians is crucial, since arrests for petty crime can quickly lead to a correctional facility or worse.\"}]","The Loyalty Tests - N Kuronoshio - Chapter One | PDF",1785477178,488,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"the-loyalty-tests-n-kuronoshio-chapter-one","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-loyalty-tests-n-kuronoshio-chapter-one/115830/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-22","2026-07-31",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Why does Sakura feel unsafe lingering in the city?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"The streets are heavily monitored by video-drones, security patrols, and even billboards using facial recognition to match people to aggregated personal data. The Technicians also use technology to locate violators in Safe Zones, including people like her.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What is the next academy event Sakura is worried about?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"She has a general screening at the academy tomorrow, including an IQ test and a psychometric exam. With her record already on file, she fears being placed into personality adjustment.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"How does Sakura and Jun try to avoid being caught?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"They change where they go through the city to avoid predictability. 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