Chapter Three: Beyond the Bleed

Then he stepped over the line, into a gray region with no coordinates, labels, or finished rendering. The rejected city screamed like an alarm. For the first time, Zero looked afraid. “That’s outside the canvas. People who enter may not leave enough behind to count as a draft.” Gu Yan continued. His colorless body flickered in the fog like an object the software might classify as empty. “There isn’t time for the perfect route,” he said. “So I’ll take the wrong one.”