Chapter Four: The Man They Hid

At two in the morning, he opened Ash's memory card. There was no evidence, only short videos ordered by date. In the first, nineteen-year-old Ash told the camera, “My mother's noodles taste sweet. She always mixes up sugar and salt.” The records slowly became an inventory of damage. “Today I forgot my high-school deskmate's name.” “Today I forgot why I cried after my first title.” The final video was three months old. Ash sat in Obsidian's training room and spoke almost in a whisper. “I know I loved Xu Cheng. Photographs say we spent seven years together. But when she stood in front of me, all I knew was that a stranger was very sad.” The screen went dark, reflecting Lin Zhou's white face.