Chapter One: A Film in One Second

Like notifications became a continuous vibration, and the phone grew too hot to hold. 【Resonance has reached 100. Director's Perception upgraded.】 【Resonance has reached 1,000. Shot Memory unlocked.】 【Narrative overflow detected. Creation projection: 7%.】 Something clicked in the darkness. A palm-sized brass raven raised its head from a heap of scrap. Its blue lens-eyes turned toward Gu Yan. It spread its wings and projected a live image of a luxury party ten kilometers away. The producer who had fired him was pausing *Gears of the Fog Capital* on a giant screen. “Find out who made this for him,” the producer said. The raven's view shifted. In the corner stood a man in a silver mask whom none of the guests seemed able to see.