Chapter Four: The Seams

As they entered the elevator, Zhou Cen texted: *Are you coming to work? The client is preparing to sacrifice me.* Then: *Someone asked if you had a sister. I said you're an only child. That's right, isn't it?* The ceiling light turned dark red. Xu held the Open button, but every floor number died. Chen's voice came from the speaker. “Every seam you found is a surgical incision that stopped a disaster from spreading.” Lin watched his reflection in the steel doors. “Surgeons tell patients what they removed.” “Not when knowing there is another life inside the wound makes them tear it open.” The elevator stopped at a floor that did not exist: B3. Beyond lay a gray-carpeted corridor. Uniformed people lined both walls, each holding a blank file.