Chapter One: The Message After Midnight

Two years ago, he had been a core engineer on Island's messaging system. Now the frantic requests in the emergency work group had nothing to do with him. At least, he wanted them to have nothing to do with him. His computer chimed. It was Island's old wave notification, a sound Shen Yan himself had written into a version retired three years ago. A blue envelope appeared in the center of the screen. Sender: Su He. Her profile picture showed a young nurse outside an emergency department. The message contained two lines. “In seven days, at 9:40 p.m., I will die on Line Three of the Linjiang Metro. Make the man in the red shoes get off the train.” The timestamp read August 16, 9:40 p.m. Today was August 9.