Chapter Two: The Woman Everyone Forgot

The kitchen began to fade. Jianwei seized the mouse and deleted the photograph. It disappeared for half a second, then returned. The kitchen faded faster. “Don't.” Wen caught her hand. “You deleted the portrait last night.” Jianwei froze. For the first time, Wen looked at her not with contempt but fear. “What did you delete?” An impossible shutter sounded from the computer speakers. Onscreen, the child Wen turned. She had no features. Her blank face pointed at Jianwei. The black camera on the desk lit by itself. Its remaining exposure counter read: seven.