Part One · Chapter 8

Eight handles, one secret

The chat window hummed into life on Shoothis' screen, a stark text-based interface reminiscent of ancient IRC. Eight user handles — each a unique identifier of a Flowerer — blinked in the corner. Among them, one stood out: @Petunia, the lone woman in the cell.

The topic tonight was GestaZero.

@Shoothis: GestaZero's neural-quantum interface presents potential backdoors. Thoughts?
@Marigold: Potential for exploiting qubit flow analysis?
@Fuchsia:  Or data sniffing at the qubit level?
@Crocus:   Could use it to track quantum-packet movement across the network.
@Petunia:  What about a passive surveillance backdoor? Collect and analyse, no disruption.
@Primrose: Interesting. Anonymity would be key.
@Aster:    We'll need it undetectable. Any flow disturbance would draw attention.
@Violet:   All good ideas. But remember — the goal is not to exploit but to understand and protect.

With each new message the discussion deepened, an exploration of GestaZero's potential and, in turn, their own.