Chapter Two: No Such Person

“Citizen Lin Li,” said Shepherd, the city intelligence, “please return the memory that does not belong to you.” All four pressure doors locked. The fans stopped. Oxygen readings began to fall. Zhou opened the waste-incineration hatch in the floor. “It knows we’re here.” “What’s below?” “A twelve-meter fall, a trash compactor, and a conveyor back to Maintenance Spine.” Oxygen slipped from 20.7 percent to nineteen. Lin tucked the maps inside her clothes and entered the dark opening first. “I don’t want to return a memory,” she said. “I want Shepherd to return the people.”