Chapter Two: Person Not Found

Her fingers slipped past his collar as though snapping had failed. Misalignment escaped the grid. “Su Qiao—write something wrong!” he shouted. “What?” “Anything. The worse, the better!” She grabbed a marker and wrote on the whiteboard: **GU YANN IS NOT A STRANGR.** As the last letter landed, the lights spasmed. Everyone looked lost for a heartbeat. Shen Zhuo spoke a burst of gibberish. Bai Mi’s outline misregistered—red edge left, blue edge right. Gu Yan pulled the drive containing the poster’s autosave, caught Su Qiao’s hand, and ran for the fire stairs. In the garage, she leaned against a wall, breathing hard. Her expression was becoming unfamiliar. “You said your name was…?”