145: Chapter 145 Chains of Contract

The draft contract sent by the "Spirit of the Wasteland" through an encrypted channel was less a cooperation agreement and more a "blueprint for ultimate fortifications" tailored specifically for "absolute anonymity."

Lauren's team spent two full days analyzing the draft, everyone's face etched with the exhaustion of staying up late and the gravity of dealing with such an extreme case.

"There are three core issues, or rather, three levels of a single problem," Lauren said at the core meeting, using a laser pointer to highlight clauses on the projection. "The asymmetry of information rights, the absolute unilateral control of the exit mechanism, and the complete transfer of risk assumption."

She dismantled it piece by piece: "First, information rights. The draft requires us to provide 'specific research resources' but refuses to provide any specific research purpose, progress, or feedback on results. This means we invest resources without knowing where they are being used or if they will generate legal or ethical risks. More critically, the draft contains several extremely subtle clauses—for example, requiring that all audio materials we provide must be 'original, unmarked, and without any digital watermarks or hidden tracking codes,' and that we must promise to 'permanently waive the right to know about the subsequent use of the material.' This is almost designed for 'complete laundering' of the source and preventing any reverse tracking."

"Second, the exit mechanism." Lauren switched pages. "The draft grants 'Party A' (the Spirit of the Wasteland) the right to terminate the cooperation unilaterally at any time without reason, requiring only 30 days' written notice (which can be sent through a preset untraceable channel). Once terminated, Party B (us) must fulfill extremely strict data destruction obligations, including not only the original materials but even 'any analytical models, feature libraries, or research conclusions that our technical staff may have formed based on their vocal characteristics during the cooperation.' In other words, after he/she leaves, all our technical understanding and data accumulation regarding the 'Spirit of the Wasteland' must return to zero. This means the R&D resources we invest could be lost at any moment."

"Third, risk transfer." Lauren's voice grew heavier. "All disputes arising from the 'Spirit of the Wasteland's' anonymity (such as being questioned by the outside world for identity fraud or copyright disputes), as well as any problems indirectly caused by the 'research resource requirements' provided, will have their liability and resolution costs borne entirely by us. His/her only obligation is to 'make every effort to complete the agreed artistic performance' and to have the final say on the 'artistic effect.'"

Silence filled the meeting room. This draft pushed the partner's risk exposure to the limit while keeping all initiative and control firmly in their own hands. It didn't look like a business cooperation; it looked more like an "unequal protection treaty."

"Can we sign it?" Marcus frowned.

"From a purely legal and commercial risk perspective, absolutely not," Lauren shook her head. "It's equivalent to sticking our necks into a noose that could tighten at any moment and that we can't see at all."

Alex had been listening in silence. Information Reception Filtering allowed him to strip away the emotional parts and focus on the logical chain of the clauses, while the risk intuition derived from Legal Boundary Insight was prickling slightly, signaling the trap hidden in the deepest depths.

"The other party isn't a lawyer, but behind this draft, there must be someone proficient in the law and extremely skilled in information concealment and counter-reconnaissance," Alex spoke slowly. "He/she isn't seeking 'cooperation,' but rather an absolutely safe, one-way transparent 'resource extraction and risk shielding device.'"

"Then we..." Taylor looked at him.

"Negotiate with him/her," Alex stood up. "But not based on this draft. Lauren, draft our counter-proposal version. The principle is: replace 'unlimited liability' with 'technical guarantees,' restrain 'unilateral exit' with 'common interests,' and break the 'information black box' with 'limited right to know.'"

He elaborated: "First, regarding research resources. We can provide acquisition channels, but all materials must be transmitted through a 'secure data channel' established by us. This channel will retain minimal, anonymous usage logs that cannot be used to track specific usage methods (only recording material type, transmission time, and size, not the content). At the same time, add a 'Final Use Compliance Guarantee Clause,' requiring the other party to promise that the resources obtained will only be used for non-commercial academic or personal artistic research and will not violate any applicable laws. We don't have to ask about the specific research content, but we must draw a legal red line."

"Second, the exit mechanism. We can retain his/her right to exit early due to 'force majeure or major personal reasons,' but must add tiered breach of contract liabilities. If they exit suddenly without a reasonable excuse during a critical cooperation period (such as mid-season), they must bear high liquidated damages and have no right to demand the destruction of technical analysis data we have formed based on publicly released works (this part of the data is already bound to the public image and has independent value). The data destruction obligation is limited to unreleased core samples that can directly reverse-engineer their biological characteristics."

"Third, risk assumption. Ensuring anonymity is our responsibility, but public relations risks such as public questioning arising from it should be handled through consultation by a small emergency PR team jointly formed by both parties, with costs shared. This pulls him/her slightly from a state of 'complete invisibility' into a limited framework of 'jointly solving problems.'"

"Most importantly," Alex emphasized, "add a 'Long-term Value Sharing' clause. If the artistic results (such as songs) generated during the cooperation bring in commercial revenue, and our provided 'research resources' are acknowledged in writing by the other party as having a 'direct and significant' help to the results, then we should enjoy a certain percentage of the excess revenue share. This binds his/her resource needs to our commercial interests in a limited, positive way."

The core of this series of counter-clauses was to turn a one-way "protection treaty" into a "special cooperation contract" with mutual constraints, shared risks, and a bond of common interests.

Lauren recorded quickly, light reigniting in her eyes: "It's feasible! This way, we build a legal and commercial safety net without touching their 'core of anonymity,' and we might even turn risks into revenue opportunities."

"But will he/she accept it?" Taylor questioned. "This is equivalent to making him/her poke their head out slightly from the shadow of 'absolute safety.'"

"That's why we need a negotiation. Not through email, but meeting in person again." Alex looked at Taylor. "You and I will go. He/she can decide the location, but we must bring this revised version and be prepared for him/her to leave the scene in anger. We need to make him/her understand that we are partners seeking to 'dance together,' not 'tools' that can be taken and discarded at will. True security comes from balance, not absolute suppression."

Three days later, the second meeting. The location was changed to an even more desolate, abandoned weather station in another part of the desert, completely cut off from signals.

The "Spirit of the Wasteland" fell silent for a long time after seeing the revised draft. Although the mask hid any expression, the tense posture and slightly heavier breathing (leaking faintly through the voice changer) showed his/her displeasure.

"This is far from my requirements," the electronic voice said coldly.

"Because your requirements only protected one person." Alex looked directly into the dark slits of the mask's eyes. "Cooperation requires basic trust and shared risks. We provide a top-tier platform, resources, and protection, and we assume the vast majority of the visible risks. You, at the very least, need to let us see that you have no intention of using this information gap to harm us and that you are willing to make this cooperation have sustainable value for both parties. Otherwise, it's just a short-term deal destined to fail, which does no good for your long-term goal of remaining hidden."

"Long-term..." the Spirit of the Wasteland chewed on the word.

"The 'research resources' you need probably can't be satisfied by just one or two pieces of information," Taylor spoke at the right moment, her tone gentle and sincere. "It might be a long-term process. And 'phantom singer' and 'Echo Vision' can become a stable and powerful cover and support platform for you during this long-term process. But the premise is that we need to ensure this platform itself won't collapse due to uncontrollable risks. These clauses protect this 'foundation of symbiosis.'"

Alex added, throwing out the final chip: "As for the data logs and limited right to know, their technical implementation will be handled by Organization D. I guarantee on my personal reputation that the anonymization solution they provide has a security level far higher than any civilian solution you could find on your own, and it will never be used to track your personal identity. This is actually increasing your security level, not lowering it."

Another long silence. The desert night wind whistled through the cracks of the dilapidated building like a sob.

Finally, the "Spirit of the Wasteland" moved slightly, appearing to be a gesture of compromise. "I can accept... some modifications. The compliance guarantee for the resource use can be added. The tiered breach of contract liability—the amount needs to be renegotiated. The scope of data destruction must be clearly limited to 'unreleased original samples that can be directly associated with biological characteristics.'" He/she responded item by item; though the tone was cold, they had entered the rhythm of substantive negotiation.

"But the 'Long-term Value Sharing' clause and the joint public relations risk group... no," his/her refusal remained firm. "My life must be completely isolated from all of this. This is my bottom line."

Alex and Taylor exchanged a look. This was expected. The other party was willing to yield on resources and breach of contract liability but firmly refused any attempt to more deeply bind their "person" with the "cooperation."

"Fine," Alex made a key concession. "Remove the joint response group, but the 'Long-term Value Sharing' clause needs to be kept as a potential return expectation for the rare resources we provide. The share percentage can be set extremely low, and the trigger conditions extremely strict. This is a symbol of our goodwill and our sincerity in seeking long-term cooperation, and I hope you can understand."

Another round of tug-of-war over details. Finally, in the darkest hour before dawn, a verbal consensus was reached on a temporary memorandum for the "'Spirit of the Wasteland' Artistic Image Exclusive Cooperation and Resource Support Agreement," full of various restrictive conditions and strict definitions that both parties could barely accept. The formal contract would be polished and generated by the legal teams of both parties based on this memorandum over the next week.

When they left the weather station, the sky was faintly light. The "Spirit of the Wasteland" disappeared silently into the shadows of the ruins again, as if they had never appeared.

On the car ride back, Alex closed his eyes to rest. The system interface emerged:

• Cumulative Historical popularity: 126,500,000 points

• Available popularity: 42,030,030 points

• New Notification: Successfully led and completed a high-risk contract negotiation targeting a high-secrecy entity, reaching a difficult balance between maintaining core interests and respecting the other party's absolute bottom line. Successfully turned a one-way extraction relationship into a special alliance with limited constraints and potential long-term value.

• Reward Activated (based on future performance of the agreement): Trait [Contract Scales] — In negotiations or collaborations involving complex interest exchanges and risk distribution, the intuitive grasp of "one's own bottom line," "the other party's core needs," and "potential exchange space" receives a steady, slight increase.

• New resource demand list received (from Spirit of the Wasteland), involving multiple highly professional acoustic research materials and experimental data access rights, some of which involve academic forbidden zones. Evaluating.

The trait acted directly on the commercial negotiation field he needed most. And that new resource list was like a key, about to open a dusty crack in a door leading to the inner world and source of fear of some paranoid genius.

The first stroke of this contract with the shadows had finally been made. The chain had been forged, binding risk and linking a lonely and brilliant genius that mortals could not understand, along with the unparalleled value he/she brought. The next question was how to dance within the range allowed by this chain and be careful not to be hurt by its sharp edges.