Chapter Four: The One Who Came Back

An unregistered third consciousness has appeared. We call it the Shepherd." A young woman gasped on the recording. Shen Yao recognized her own voice. "The door won't close. It's learning us." Then Gu shouted, "Shen Yao, let go of Lu Cen!" A flatline ended the tape. Shen Yao remembered that day seven years ago: the institute blackout, waking at home, Gu calling to say the trial had failed. She even remembered the color of her curtains. But she could not remember the day before. "The mirror," Lu Zhi said. Its glass showed no reflection. It showed an operating room. Shen Yao at twenty-five lay on the floor, a cut beside one eye, no brain activity. Lu Cen lay on another bed, repeating, "Don't let her wake."