Chapter One: The Tomorrow They Rejected

Back at his desk, Chen exported the rejected cut separately. The moment the render completed, nine unfamiliar frames appeared after the commercial. A white delivery van jumped the curb outside Starbridge. A girl in a yellow scarf bent to pick up a coin, narrowly avoiding the van. It struck a streetlight, raining glass onto the pavement. The pharmacy clock in the corner read TOMORROW, 10:43. Chen watched the nine frames thirty times. The raw footage contained no van, no girl, no such street. But he recognized the clock from the pharmacy downstairs. That night, Zhixia returned for her laptop and found V19 and V20 open side by side. “What are you looking for?” “Proof that I haven't lost my mind.”