Chapter Two: The Exit Leads to the Stands

The last pair might not be a seat at all. Security dragged her to the duty office. Old Ma had drunk half a bottle, and the change came earlier than before. He did not ask why her prediction had shifted. He listened blissfully to the crowd through the wall. “Doesn't it feel good?” he whispered. “So many people wanting exactly the same thing. Where else do you get that?” On the soaked rota, faint grooves remained where blue ink had washed away during the previous loop: twelve. On the back, Lin Xi pressed hard with a ballpoint pen: WATER IS WRONG. EXITS LOOP. FIND NONDRINKERS. 03 NODE LIT. REMEMBER CHENG YE. Cheng Ye led the medical team. During the first loop, she had seen him beside the elderly woman who refused treatment.