Chapter Three: Gatekeepers in the City

"I guarded him. Then I personally sealed him in the ice." Su raised a laboratory liquid-nitrogen sprayer. Chen ignored it and tossed an old mechanical watch onto the floor. Its lid sprang open. The hands had stopped at 2:17. "Gatekeeper is not a species. It is a sentence. Everyone who sees the hummingbird city and survives must eventually choose: become part of the Gate, or let the Gate open through their body." "Who are the Returners?" "People who believe the prison is more beautiful than the world." Every server screamed at once. Hundreds of Earth-observation satellites were being forced toward Antarctica. The commands originated inside the center. Each satellite completing its turn caused a golden line to ignite across the ancient door.