Chapter One: One Million Words

Chenzhou shut off his terminal and entered the Nine Bends flea market beneath the bridge, intending to sell his last mechanical keyboard. Han Boyan, an appraiser with a loupe over one eye, tapped a keycap. “Seven hundred.” “The switches are discontinued. Twelve hundred at least.” “Discontinued doesn't mean valuable. What you need now is cash, young man, not dignity.” Behind Han lay watches, old cameras, and obsolete neural ports—a graveyard of discarded eras. Chenzhou was about to accept when his elbow knocked down a tin box. Its lid sprang open, and a black crystal no larger than a fingernail rolled into his palm. Pain drilled from his fingertips into his skull. There was no screen, only white text carved directly into awareness.