Chapter Four: The Mirror That Moved First

Faceless officers entered the street. Their leader's face cycled through forgotten policemen. Tang called it the Zero Officer: a dream dreamed collectively by every surveillance camera in Backcity. It raised a warrant. Instead of Shen's portrait, it displayed every signature he had used since childhood. “Photographer,” a thousand speakers said, “return the face you borrowed.” Shop windows flared. Behind every pane stood the umbrella woman, wearing the boy's face. On the misted glass she wrote: GO TO PLATFORM ZERO. UNTIL YOU HAVE RESCUED THEM, DO NOT TRUST ME.