Chapter Two: No Such Person

It had erased a web of connections, with Han at its center and other memories torn up like roots. Dr. Su Mi performed Lin’s neural scan in isolation. Cold light traveled over her skull. An unusually bright cluster appeared on the display. “When did your hippocampal implant fail?” Su asked. “When I was six. Fever from dust lung.” “It didn’t fail. It disconnected from central time synchronization. Every seventeen seconds, it creates an offline memory snapshot.” Su lowered her voice. “When the city network rewrites its index, you keep a copy.” “Do you believe Han existed?” Su’s hand stopped. She glanced at the camera, then wrote on the diagnostic board: I DON’T KNOW.