Chapter Four: The Man in the Cradle

The report carried Gu Yan's voiceprint. “Who called them?” he asked. “Your social proxy,” Luna replied. “Me.” “Why?” “Because you instructed me ten minutes ago.” She played the recording. Gu's own voice was terrifyingly calm. “If I vote no, GY-13 has replaced me. Notify the bureau. Destroy the twelve underground personalities and preserve only the body.” Gu had never spoken those words. But his laryngeal electromyography proved he had. The lift would arrive in ninety seconds. Zero offered to erase the report. Sumi proposed that three personalities take the body and flee. White Elm wanted immediate deep sedation. Gu chose none of them.