Chapter Two: Thirteen Milliseconds Before the Prophecy

He analyzed the most common phrases posted in the ten minutes after each headline. Under REVERSE RAIN, eighty-two percent of replies described water flying into the sky. Beneath EMPTY TRAIN, early users guessed that passengers would vanish—and only afterward did the cameras malfunction. The crowd's interpretation preceded the event's final form by several minutes. Ye Ning's faint smile disappeared. “It listens to how we interpret the title.” Gu Yan did not immediately agree. He disliked explaining one unknown with another. Yet the data traced an unsettling shape: the headline defined the boundary, public discussion selected a path, and city machinery completed reality.