Chapter Three: The Deleted Man

“Didn't you two always say,” Shen Lan laughed, “that if you had a child, that would be his name?” The system had returned the name without returning the man. It compressed more than twenty years of life into a future possibility, satisfying every surface-level reference. The boy looked up. His features were a perfect blend of Shen Zhou and Lin Wan—the algorithm's answer to a stable family. “Dad,” he asked, “who is Zhou Jiming?” Shen Zhou's hand stopped above his head. Acceptance would stabilize this home. His mother lived. Lin Wan loved him. Even the hollow might be filled by a new life. `root-0` was not threatening him. It was offering the version hardest to refuse.