Chapter Two: Ten Seconds Ahead

Cheng Ye pulled her inside. A perfectly straight white crack split the door. Echo filled the screen with urgent text. 【Faster senses required. Authorize Camera.】 “What does it cost?” 【We can calculate later.】 “Tell me now.” 【Each time you see the future, you lose ten seconds of your own present.】 The crack reached the lock. Cheng Ye authorized it. Camera vanished into Echo. The lens on the back of the phone lifted like an opening eye. The screen showed the living room ten seconds ahead: Lin Wu diving toward the window, Cheng Ye frozen in place with a white hole in his forehead, glass exploding inward. The countdown began. Instead of moving left, Cheng Ye kicked over the coffee table and aimed the lens at the door. The image refreshed.