Chapter 8: The Cracks in the Facade
While Leo worked through the night, Julian sat in his penthouse suite, staring at his glowing prototype. The shoe was dazzling—pulsing RGB lights along the heel, a sleek carbon-fiber chassis, and an integrated app that tracked steps and automatically posted workout milestones to social media.
Yet, as he tested the internal mechanism, the motor whirred with an unsettling, high-pitched strain.
"Is the heat dissipation calibrated for prolonged use?" Julian asked the chief engineer his father had assigned to him via video call.
"It meets baseline safety thresholds for the ten-minute demonstration, Julian," the engineer replied flatly, clearly exhausted. "If a user runs in them for more than twenty minutes, the battery housing in the arch will overheat. But your father told us not to worry about longevity—just make sure it looks revolutionary on stage."
Julian closed his laptop, running his hands through his styled hair. He walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection. He was wearing an eight-hundred-dollar designer sweater, bespoke trousers, and expensive jewelry.
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*Have you ever made anything with your own two hands that didn't come with a receipt?* Leo’s question echoed in his mind like a relentless drumbeat. Julian picked up the smart sneaker. It was undeniably flashy, but it was hollow—a dangerous, superficial gimmick rushed to market to satisfy his father’s relentless vanity.
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