Chapter One: The Empty Car

The typing indicator lingered. At last she replied: The one you left behind. The train did not slow. The cab was empty, although the throttle moved forward by itself. Every station on the route map had gone dark. A single unfamiliar white dot traveled toward CLOCK TOWER. Cheng wired his tester into the control board and forced the brakes. The wheels shrieked like a crowd laughing. The train overshot half a platform before stopping. Outside lay a street in the mirror city. Cheng read the reversed station sign in the window's reflection: DAOCUAN. 12:12. He jumped out. The doors shut, and the train reversed the way it had come—but his reflection stayed in the glass. The other Cheng remained on the platform, watching him. A heartbeat late, it smiled.