Chapter Four: The Man They Hid

Nova entered and placed a document box on his desk. It held a recorder, instant camera, blank cards, and a mechanical counter. “If you won't explain the cause, start with the symptoms.” After a long silence, Lin Zhou told her everything: the branching light, rerouting the future, and memories taken as payment. He expected disbelief, or at least fear. She merely switched on the recorder. “Name?” “Lin Zhou.” “Who did you beat today?” “Red Tide.” “What are you most afraid of forgetting?” He almost said his family. Then he remembered Ash looking at someone he had once loved and seeing a stranger. “I'm afraid I'll forget why I don't want to forget.” Nova wrote the date on the first card. “Then starting today, we preserve the reason.”