Chapter Three: She Said, Don't Save Me

He opened the profile. There was no conversation history, only coordinates updating toward the old clock tower. Zhou Yu retrieved plans showing that underground communication tunnels connected the tower to Data Center Zero. They agreed to enter after dawn. At one in the morning, Shen left alone. The rain seemed to have fallen continuously for seven years. The clock tower stood behind construction barriers, its face stopped at 3:17. Shen climbed inside and descended a rusting ladder. His phone had no signal, but the messaging screen shone like a lantern. With each level, more voices gathered around him: apologies never spoken, voice calls no one answered, an “I love you” deleted a second before sending.