02:17.
Emergency call initiated.
Not public.
Not announced.
But real.
A liquidity backstop was now formally requested.
In nuclear physics, reaction control requires insertion of absorbing material.
A moderator reduces neutron velocity.
Slower particles mean fewer secondary collisions.
The math is simple:
Decay replaces growth when damping constant becomes dominant.
Markets are not atoms.
But confidence behaves similarly.
At 03:05, conditional term sheet drafted.
Collateralized access.
Penalty rate.
Stigma embedded.
The price of survival is public inference.
But survival remains survival.
Liquidity projection adjusted:
Without support → runway 11 hours.
With facility → 5 days minimum.
Five days changes narrative arc.
Panic requires immediacy.
Time weakens fear.
Pre-market rumor velocity slowed.
Social chatter density dropped 23%.
Spread compression of 9 basis points observed in early indications.
Not reversal.
But deceleration.
Han Zhe recalculated multiplier.
Confidence coefficient now 0.98.
Below unity.
Marginally.
But below.
When k < 1,
reaction extinguishes over time.
The damping effect resembles exponential decay in hazard probability.
Steep at first.
Gradual thereafter.
Stability does not return instantly.
It accumulates.
At 09:31, market opened down 6%.
Contained.
Not catastrophic.
Clearing margins stable.
Intraday collateral demands flat.
Flat is victory.
Regulator's statement released at 10:04:
"Ample system liquidity remains available."
Words chosen carefully.
They did not reference any institution.
They referenced the system.
Markets interpret ambiguity as intentional reassurance.
By midday, funding spreads narrowed 18 basis points from peak.
Still elevated.
But slope negative.
Second derivative now negative.
Convexity broken.
Momentum reversing.
Inside the energy firm's war room, silence was heavier than celebration.
Profits marked sharply positive.
Protection trades realized.
Yet positions unwound gradually.
Stability preferred.
Convex gains harvested without spectacle.
Predators that celebrate too loudly become targets.
At 14:12, Gu Chengyi addressed the team:
"Contagion has inertia."
"Decay requires persistence."
Short-term relief does not equal long-term immunity.
Reputation damage lingers beyond liquidity stress.
Trust rebuilds linearly.
Loss occurs exponentially.
By close:
Equity down 9% total.
Funding stabilized.
Withdrawal velocity normalized.
Facility drawn.
Chain reaction cooled.
Not extinguished.
But controlled.
In thermodynamics, once temperature drops below ignition threshold,
combustion ceases.
Fuel may remain.
But reaction no longer self-sustaining.
Night arrived calmer.
Markets fragile, not frantic.
Liquidity expensive, not absent.
Confidence wounded, not dead.
The moderator had entered the core.
And for the first time in 36 hours,
the system
was no longer accelerating.
It was cooling.
Slowly.
Intentionally.
And tomorrow would test
whether cooling
becomes recovery—
or merely
intermission.