Chapter Four: Viewer Zero

When the PA system returned to normal, everyone blamed a wiring fault. Tang remembered V24, but insisted it had shown an empty chair. Only Zhixia had seen Chen disappear. Only she had heard Kron say his name. “They didn't forget,” Chen said. “The film is deciding in advance who is allowed to remember me.” V24 could not be copied or deleted. Its properties contained only one unfamiliar line: B3-017. Starbridge had no third basement. Zhixia took him down in the freight elevator. Below B2, a nonexistent button glowed. The car descended again, opening onto a sealed machine corridor. At its end, a man in an old jacket repaired a tape deck with a screwdriver. “You're seven years later than I expected,” he said.