Chapter Three: She Said, Don't Save Me

Thousands of memories flooded him: the moon seen by a drowning man, an old woman's shame before forgetting her son's name, the goodnight a girl failed to send before a collision. He fell to his knees in the water. Lin reached toward him but stopped at an invisible boundary. “Shen Yan,” she whispered, “you're late again.” He looked up as tears escaped him. “Where are you? Where have you been all these years?” “Here.” “I'll bring you out.” She shook her head. Her body flickered in the neon; beneath her skin flowed tiny characters instead of veins. “Every person you save is one resident who never arrives here. The Silent Layer compensates for the vacancy by sending you more predicted deaths. You think you're closing a door. You're opening it wider.