Chapter Five: The Space a Lie Leaves Behind

Another swore, “I never lied to you,” and his tongue became a stack of unsent letters. The rule did not reward honesty. It punished certainty possessed by one voice alone. They entered under deliberately false names. Lin called himself Chen Shouyi; Su used Professor Fan. Because the names belonged to people reality denied, the lies left vacancies in its covenant. Behind Vault Seven stood an interrogation room. Seventeen-year-old Lin sat inside, covered in soot, repeating, “I have a sister. Her name is Lin Xi.” Each time, an official stamped FICTION across the transcript. The original recording contained a girl's second breath, though the transcript listed Lin alone. Ye admitted that the fire had been the previous breach of the Verge.