Chapter Three: Thirteen Is a Door

Fire had crazed the walls, but there was no dust. Someone still maintained the room. A weak green light woke on the central console. The silver key was not a key at all, but the missing thirteenth memory wafer. Gu inserted it. His mother spoke from the loudspeaker, younger than he remembered. “If you can hear this, they have started fighting over which one is Little Yan again.” Gu stopped breathing. “Remember this first: memory is not an identity card. Pain isn't one either. Thirteen children remember my hand because I truly held every one of you.” A child cried in the background. The recorded Gu Lan seemed to turn and comfort someone. Then she lowered her voice. “Thirteen is not a backup. Thirteen is a door.