Chapter Two: Three Players Nobody Wanted

Zhou did not argue. He shot a soft basketball from beyond the arc. It struck the rim, and Han caught the rebound with the steadiness of a wall. Su noticed a medical report beneath his wrench. Lin Ya, seventeen, youth three-on-three scoring champion: sudden loss of stereoscopic vision. “A kid I coached,” Han said. “Yesterday she suddenly couldn't judge distance.” Su found Lin's stream. At eleven the previous night, she had played Final Protocol. Her record contained an eleven-zero loss with no replay. The opposing captain was Zeus, number one on the Midnight ranking. “She isn't sick,” Zhou said. “She lost.” Han rose too fast; his right leg folded. Gripping the hoop, he asked, “Can winning return it?”