Chapter Two: The Terminal Station

“Next time you pass by, don't hang up.” After she left, Lu Chen found a photograph stuck beneath the desk. Its web stretched between subway rails. The drops encoded 18:40 and the terminal station of Line Nine. There were twenty-three red beads. Not one victim. An entire carriage. At 6:20 that evening, Lu Chen entered the station. His danger sense remained quiet until a maintenance worker pushed a cleaning cart through the gate. Then pain stabbed the back of his neck. The cart held sealed cans of gasoline, not mops. Lu Chen followed the man into a service corridor and was struck by a stun baton. Electricity locked his muscles. The worker removed his mask, revealing an exhausted middle-aged face.