Chapter Three: One Person Missing from the World

Eight minutes remained. Zhou hummed another phrase, but no name came. Memory was a locked door, something pounding behind it. Gu Ye possessed Delay One Second and Borrow One Sound. Neither could save a name alone. "If a result can be delayed," Lin said, "what about forgetting?" Gu Ye understood. He gripped Zhou's hand and targeted the result of the man's next act of forgetting. One second was enough for two fragments of memory to overlap. At the same time, he borrowed every sound nearby. Wind, birds, nursing-station announcements, stream notifications—all vanished for ten seconds. In absolute silence only A-Li's song remained, borrowed into the phone and returned alone to the world. Clarity entered Zhou's clouded eyes.