Chapter Two: Beyond the Nine Frames

The coin fell. As the girl bent, Chen sprinted forward, seized her arm, and pulled her back three steps. The van shot past and struck the streetlight. Glass poured down. But the girl was no longer where the rejected cut had placed her. Chen had pulled her beneath an advertising light box, whose shattered metal cap now fell toward her head. Zhixia lunged, blocking it with her laptop bag. All three tumbled into the pharmacy entrance. The panel hit the ground inches from the girl's fingers. The nine frames had predicted the crash, not their interference. After the police and ambulance left, Zhixia dropped her ruined bag on Chen's desk.