Chapter Five: The Buddhas of Dunhuang Have No Backs

Painted apsaras turned their heads. Modern cities filled their eyes: a Tokyo subway, Manhattan towers, the Zaragoza plaza. Each mural held a disaster prevented and discarded into the Backlight. The black coin began counting down from 23:59:59. The vision covered the cavern. Lu saw himself kneeling before the Buddha, bound by his own shadow. Isabel lay nearby, her silver disk through her chest. Rin Kirishima wore Lu's face and drew the second Corona Key from the Buddha's brow. Behind her, Mo reached into Lu's skull and removed a luminous memory. Inside it, a sixteen-year-old girl turned and cried, “Ge, don't let go!” Lu froze. His sister, Lu Yao, had disappeared in Gansu ten years ago. He remembered missing her final call.