Chapter Three: Gu Yan Is Dead

“Gu Yan,” she said, “if you still recognize that name, put down your phone.” He did not move. Her badge read SONG CI. She supervised the data center's night shift and was the last person to access C-17 before REVERSE RAIN. Every piece of evidence pointed to her. Too neatly. “You posted the titles,” Ye Ning said. Song Ci kept the pistol steady. “I released the first nine.” “And this one?” “Not this one.” She looked at Gu Yan not like a hunter, but like someone who had finally seen reinforcements arrive. “Someone stole my outlet. They don't want merely to kill you. They want you to open CityScope's core with your own hands in order to survive.”