Chapter Four: The Lowest-Cost Death

“Muscle and contextual memory may not need you to know. Cheng Shu is deleting your digital identity to turn you back into the unregistered person the system recognizes. When the deletion is complete, the door will accept you.” Death was not the objective. It was permission preparation. Gu checked the countdown: 21:08:33. He picked up the phone and typed beneath GU YAN IS DEAD: Gu Yan's social-security account is dead. Song caught his wrist. “Don't post that. You're giving the system its cheapest answer—and giving Cheng a route to finish deleting you.” “If I don't, the public will choose biological death for me,” Gu said. “We can't stop interpretation. We can occupy a reversible one first.” He tapped Send.