“.esrevinu gnitcartnoc eht retne lliw ew ,taht retfA .tnemom taht ni tsixe t’now emiT .tniop egnarts a hguorht ssap lliw esrevinu eht ,sdnoces net tuoba ni ,nooS .tfel sdnoces net tuoba s’erehT .loof a s’eh kniht lliw uoy ,noitcerid rehtona ni gniog emit tuoba skaeps enoyna fI .larutan etiuq …

…

MIRROR

TRANSLATED BY CARMEN YILING YAN

As research delves deeper, humanity is discovering that quantum effects are nothing more than surface ripples in the ocean of existence, shadows of the disturbances arising from the deeper laws governing the workings of matter. With these laws beginning to reveal themselves, quantum mechanics’ ever-shifting picture of reality is once again stabilizing, deterministic variables once again replacing probabilities. In this new model of the universe, the chains of causality that were thought eliminated have surfaced once more, and clearer than before.

PURSUIT

In the office were the flags of China and the CCP. There were also two men, one on either side of the broad desk.

“I know you’re very busy, sir, but I must report this. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it,” said the man in front of the desk. He wore the uniform of a police superintendent second class. He was near fifty, but he stood ramrod-straight, and the lines of his face were hard and vigorous.

“I know the weight of that last sentence coming from you, Xufeng, veteran investigator of thirty years.” The Senior Official looked at the red and blue pencil slowly twirling between his fingers as he spoke, as if all his attention were focused on assessing the merit of its sharpening. He tucked away his gaze like this much of the time. In the years Chen Xufeng had known him, the Senior Official had looked him in the eyes no more than three times. Each time had come at a turning point in Chen’s life.

“Every time we take action, the target escapes one step ahead of us. They know what we’re going to do.”

“Surely you’ve seen similar things before,” the Senior Official said.

“If it were simply that, it wouldn’t be a big deal, of course. We considered the possibility of an inside job right off.”

“Knowing your subordinates, I find that rather improbable.”

“We found that out for ourselves,” Chen said. “Like you instructed, we’ve reduced the participants in this case as much as possible. There are only four people in the task force, and only two know the full story. But just in case, I planned to call a meeting of all the members and question them one by one. I told Chenbing to handle it—you know him, the one from the Eleventh Department, very reliable, took care of the business with Song Cheng—and that’s when it happened.