Chapter Five: The Delivery That Never Arrives

One reached toward his mother's room; eleven pointed elsewhere across the city. Beneath it lay a purchase order signed by Gu Yunshen: URBAN FEAR DELIVERY NETWORK. NODE ONE—MIDNIGHT ZERO. His phone rang. Gu Yunshen sounded like an ordinary, considerate employer. “Deliver on time, Manager Zhou, and I can cure your mother.” “Did you alter the records of those seventeen victims?” “I merely gave fear an address. People already fear losing family, being forgotten, and arriving too late. We make those emotions commercially useful.” “Then you understand platform policy.” Zhou Ran tore out the hospital wire. “False shipment. The customer can cancel without penalty.” [CANCELLATION FAILED: ORDER HAS LEFT THE STORE.]