Chapter Two: Tenants of the Body

The elevator stopped on twenty-one. Outside lay a corridor identical to Gu's own, down to the fiddle-leaf fig with browned tips. He stayed inside. “This isn't the twenty-first floor,” Little Full whispered beside him. She alone had retained a child's voice. Gu had created her to model the harm products might do to children and had always barred her from adult privileges. “What do you see?” “Mama's laboratory. There are thirteen pairs of shoes by the door.” Gu saw only the corridor. “Which pair is mine?” “None. Twelve are ours. One is Mama's.” The doors began to close. Little Full screamed, “Someone is behind them!” Gu instinctively blocked the doors. For one frame, the corridor's skin peeled away. White walls became charred insulation.