Chapter One: The Tomorrow They Rejected

She watched the dead screen. “Are you going?” Chen remembered the yellow scarf lifting as the girl bent for the coin. “If I don't,” he said, “I'll spend the rest of my life wondering whether it happened because nobody tried to stop it.” Outside, the city's billboards dimmed one by one. Across the avenue, the Super Bowl countdown turned bloodred. 11 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes.