Chapter Five: The Buddhas of Dunhuang Have No Backs

Seat 17B was empty. Cabin footage showed its belt fastening and window shade lowering by themselves. The other Lu had never crossed the jet bridge. It was as though his shadow had arrived first. During the flight, Isabel showed Lu a Council file. Sixty-two of the original 107 candidates remained. One could sever shadows; another projected lies into solid form; others walked through the darkness of the dead. The leader had no name, only a rising black dot. “Mo?” “Your scores are separate, despite your joint registration.” Lu had eleven points. Mo had nineteen. “It competes with my face, but the victories belong to it.” “If it gathers the keys first, the Council will let it decide which of you is the appendage.”