Chapter Four: Lies Grow Legs

Zero had told Gu Ye to find them, but had provided no address. When Gu Ye typed WHERE ARE YOU, the system replied: [TARGET IS NOT LOCATED ON THE LOCAL CAUSAL LAYER.] "Which subway line gets me there?" [TARGET IS NOT LOCATED ON THE LOCAL CAUSAL LAYER.] "Do you offer free shipping?" The system was silent for five seconds. "Cosmic customer service regrets opening a human channel," Tang Ke said. Lin Xiaoman spread all 417 gap photographs across the apartment. The erased left no records, but details resisted reality's repairs: a double bed worn only on one side, a restaurant washing one extra bowl, children's medicine on a hermit's insurance bill. Plotted on a map, the gaps formed a bent line pointing toward an abandoned weather tower in the north.