Chapter Five: The Nameless City

Thirteen people woke the next morning. The first twelve were the coma patients. They could walk and speak, but none would claim the name in their charts. The thirteenth was Lu Cen. After seven years asleep, she opened her eyes and said, "The tide is out." She watched Lu Zhi enter as if he were a stranger long overdue. Then he showed her the medal he had stolen as a child. "You hid it at Pier Six," she said, "not Pier Seven." Lu Zhi laughed and wept. Shen Yao waited outside. Lu Cen might once have carried her inside her mind. Shen Yao did not know whether she faced a patient, a benefactor, or an old house someone had emptied. "You're the echo," Lu Cen said through the glass. "Come in."