Chapter Four: Outside the Canvas

Then she put the broken marker between her teeth and bit through the ink reservoir. Red ran from the corner of her mouth. On the cabinet she wrote two huge words: **HARD DRVIE**. “I don't know who you're asking about,” she said, “but I know you shouldn't have it.” The error made the proof convulse. Gu Yan pressed his palm to the red through two worlds. Su Qiao seemed to feel something and placed her hand on the cabinet from the other side. Only one sheet of paper separated hot skin from cold. The tower opened. Inside, stairs built from misspelled names climbed toward the roar of the Recycle Well. Zero entered first. “From now on, don't trust any name you remember.” Gu Yan studied the unfinished circle on his chest. “Including yours?”