The Queen Reborn: Claiming What's Mine novel · Chapter 7 of 32

Chapter 7: The Question

Cora walked the length of the ballroom with four hundred people watching her feet.

She did not hurry.

A waiter at the edge of the stage held a tray of champagne, and behind him a stagehand held the roving microphone for the Q and A.

She held out her hand, and the stagehand gave it to her.

"Ms. Lowry," she said, and her voice carried to the back wall. "Congratulations. May I ask a few questions about the architecture?"

The applause thinned and stopped.

Kendra's smile stayed on.

"This isn't really the format, Cora," Brent said into his own microphone, laughing gently. "Perhaps afterward."

"The Foundation says everyone's welcome to ask," Cora said. "It's on the program."

She held up the printed program she had picked off a table.

Someone in the crowd laughed.

Brent's jaw shifted, and he gestured, very graciously, for her to proceed.

"First question," Cora said. "What is the oldest commit in the repository, and what does its message say?"

Kendra blinked.

"It's, um. Foundational," she said. "It says something about foundations."

"It says, first pass, don't judge," Cora said. "I wrote it at two in the morning in a garage in Westerville. Second question. In the second year, we replaced one of the three data stores. Which one, and why?"

Kendra's grip on the microphone tightened.

"The, uh. The older one," she said. "For performance."

"The older one is the only one that was ever there," Cora said. "Third question."

The ballroom had gone completely silent.

Brent stepped forward, smile fixed. "Cora, this is a stunt."

"What is the rule at the top of the design document?" Cora asked Kendra, ignoring him. "Just the rule. It's written on the slide behind you."

Every head turned to look at the screen.

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