Chapter One: When the Sun Returned, I Didn't

The shadow wrote on the inside of the glass: 23:47:16. Then another version of the plaza appeared. Rain lashed tomorrow night's celebration. The enormous corona lighting rig folded in half and crashed into the crowd. Drone batteries fell like burning hail. The pavement split. A silver tanker exploded at the underground parking entrance. Flame washed over a column bearing the Virgin's image, and the woman in the red scarf lay trapped beneath a steel beam. The vision had no sound. Only the countdown moved. 23:47:15. 23:47:14. At last, the shadow walked into the flames and picked up a black coin. It turned. A smile identical to Lu's opened across its featureless face. The phone lit up.