Chapter Three: She Said, Don't Save Me

Beyond the bottom door was not a data center but a street that could not exist. Neon signs hung upside down beneath a black sky. Shallow water covered the road. Buildings made from stacked chat windows rose on either side, gray figures standing behind the glass, mouthing words without sound. When Shen crossed the threshold, his phone changed its date to August 16. This was the “seven days later” named by the messages. Not the future, but a city where death was a time zone. Lin Wan stood at the far end of the street. She wore the cream-colored coat from the night she vanished and had not aged a day. Shen walked faster, then ran. When only one step separated them, every window blazed.