The People in the Copied City

Every bus bar was red. Lu Yao scanned the backplate with thermal imaging and discovered a low-temperature blue line behind it—not a cable, but a beam of solidified light. [SPATIAL ANCHOR CIRCUIT. UNAUTHORIZED.] He understood. Buildings used ordinary electricity. The force maintaining the residents' existence used spatial energy. The city could go dark without killing them, provided the blue line remained intact. He shut down commercial power and decorative lighting, concentrating the remainder on the hospital, pumps, school, and anchor. Han Zheng explained over the loudspeaker that darkness did not mean abandonment. It meant survival.