Chapter One: The Silent Meteor Shower

The phone beside him was deleting its own apps. Weather, Music, Browser—each turned gray. At last, only a white square remained. Cheng Ye took one step. The square expanded to fill the screen. The old man's badge went white first; name and photograph rubbed away. Then his face vanished—not its flesh, but Cheng Ye's ability to understand what the features meant. Eyes, nose, and mouth remained, yet would no longer assemble into a person. “Remember me,” the old man shouted. “My name is—” His voice ended. The thermos struck the tiles. Cheng Ye bent to retrieve it. When he looked up, the corridor was empty. He knew something had happened, yet could not remember why he was holding a stranger's red thermos.