Chapter One: Free Water

“Miss,” he whispered, pulling her sleeve. “Dad doesn't know me anymore.” The clock showed eighty-seven minutes and the score was 3–3. Lin Xi had been gone less than ten. “Come with me.” The stadium fell silent. Not gradually. Eighty thousand mouths shut at once. The players stopped and looked toward the scoreboard. The red clock jumped from 87:00 to 89:59. The boy's father turned. A nonexistent zero reflected in his pupils. “It's about to begin,” he said. The clock reached zero. No final whistle sounded. The lights turned corpse-white and died from the highest tier downward. The crowd erupted with a roar louder than any goal. Beneath the PA static, a voice counted as if from the bottom of a well. “Twelve.”