Chapter Four: The Name in the Empty Pod

On the table stood a bowl of clear broth containing one translucent slice of fish. “The second course,” Gu said. Zhiwei smelled the year Zhixia turned sixteen. After their parents died, her sister had pretended not to be hungry and given Zhiwei the only piece of fish. Grief rose in the steam, painfully fresh. “I have to eat to proceed?” “The door recognizes you through her memories.” Lu seized Gu by the collar. “You made her sister into a key?” “Not us.” Gu watched Zhiwei. “Her, seventy years from now.” Zhiwei lifted the bowl and tasted a single drop. Memory flooded in. Zhixia woke in a Hemera laboratory, tore out an IV, and stole a trial-subject list.