Chapter Three: I Stole Its Door

Each time the creature changed faces on-screen, another fracture opened in the rig. Lu sent the drones upward. Twelve black blankets unfurled and joined above the plaza, forming an artificial night. The mirrors lost the crowd's reflections and spun wildly. One step remained. The tanker was still inside shadow, beyond ordinary reach. Lu sprinted toward the maintenance opening. The creature shed his director's face and became Lu. The second Lu landed before him, identical down to the cut on his arm. “Don't go,” it said in his voice. “You aren't among the dead.” “Then you chose the wrong bait.” He jumped from the platform. His missing shadow rose from the wall and wrapped around him like a black coat.