Chapter One: The Words He Missed

Lin left the office building while reading the transcription of his mother’s voice message: *Come home for dinner Sunday. Your uncle will also—* Crimson erupted beside the word *also*. [STOP.] He obeyed without thinking. A pane of glass the size of his hand plunged from the twenty-seventh floor, brushed the tip of his nose, and exploded on the pavement. Pedestrians screamed and scattered. Lin stood frozen as blood welled from a fine cut on his cheek. Another half step and the glass would have opened his skull. Security guards ran out with barrier tape. People cursed the building management and pointed cameras upward. Lin looked only at his phone. The warning had not vanished. More words appeared behind it. [It was not an accident.]