As Adam walked, a memory surfaced from three years after this point in his previous life.
He had come back from work that evening tired enough to fall straight into his chair. The apartment had been small. His roommate had already been sitting there, half watching the television while eating from a cheap food box. Adam had barely looked at the screen at first.
Then the news changed.
A police officer's face appeared on the television.
The anchor's voice was sharp, and the date strip below the screen read June 18.
"Officer Rovan Hale has been accused of murdering environmental activist Eshan Verma and burying his body in Blackroot Forest," the anchor said. "The disappearance, first reported on May 14 three years ago, is now being investigated as a planned killing tied to corruption and illegal development interests."
The report shifted to another screen, with Rovan Hale's photo on one side and Eshan Verma's sister, Mira, on the other.
