Chapter Three: The Back of the City

Cold liquid enclosed him for only an instant. Then he fell from a vertical pool and landed on his knees in a Back City street. The ordinary city hung upside down overhead, its traffic flowing like constellations across a distant sky. Lin stood ahead, staring up at a tower built from thousands of posters. At its summit, Radiant was pinned inside an enormous white frame. A man in white gloves stood with his back to them, using a paper knife to peel the light from her chest. Without turning, he raised the captured light as if saluting an audience after a long absence. “Welcome back, Fixed Focus,” he said.