Chapter Four: The People Taken by Light

He hid the price from Li Wu and gave her the license number. They found the van entering a closed ramp. Li Wu stepped into a bridge pillar's shadow and pulled him out beneath a lamp three hundred meters away. They landed on the roof. Inside were nineteen transparent cabinets. The missing people slept with looped auroras projected over their faces. Wires drew their memories into a fist-sized black crystal. The driver wore a Qichen badge, but his face resembled undeveloped film. He swerved through the guardrail. Li Wu slapped nineteen names onto the floor. They grew into black roots, securing the cabinets while the van hung above the river in the palm of its own shadow.