Chapter Three: Level Zero Is Not a Floor

“Let us take the wheel,” she said. “Maybe we can bring them back.” Voss opened the evidence cabinet. “You have fifteen minutes. Then I arrest you.” “Why?” “Because I don’t know what I’ll believe fifteen minutes from now.” Zhou spread out the construction plan. The coordinates at the wheel’s center pointed to the north wall, but a tool storeroom stood there. They moved the cabinets and found a metal plate hidden beneath layers of paint: 0-A. Six recesses surrounded it, each shaped exactly like a hub bolt. Lin pushed the wheel into the wall. Its hub seated perfectly. Nothing happened. “Missing authorization,” Zhou said. “Or a missing person.” A soft knock sounded inside the tool store: three short, one long, the first rhythm in the fractures.