Sands Beneath the Sea of Memories

Ling Chen is a highly skilled memory editor, but keeps people at arm’s length. During an assignment, he discovers an unprecedented technique for “memory extraction” and gets caught up in the client’s bizarre death. Captain Evelyn of the Order Guard takes over the investigation. From mutual suspicion to an uneasy alliance, they pursue a mysterious organization called the Shadow of Nothingness.

As their investigation deepens, they discover that Silas, the organization’s leader, is systematically erasing specific memories. His ultimate goal is to find the legendary Primordial Memory and unleash a “memory plague” that will erase the city’s history and everyone’s identity. Along the way, Ling Chen is forced to confront traumatic memories sealed away after a failed operation, while Evelyn struggles against political pressure and betrayal from the upper ranks of the council. They receive help from Elder, an exiled former Scribe, and learn that Ling Chen’s trauma contains the crucial “key” to the Primordial Memory.

On the city’s anniversary, Silas is about to launch his final assault. Ling Chen and Evelyn split up to infiltrate the heavily guarded heart of the council. Evelyn battles traitors and the Order Guard in the real world, while Ling Chen enters the core of the Primordial Memory to face Silas in a battle of ideals and will: a Memory War.

Silas abandons his plan, and the crisis is averted. Evelyn becomes the new head of the Order Guard and devotes herself to reform. Ling Chen emerges from the shadow of his past and opens a free clinic to help people come to terms with their memories. However, while studying the Primordial Memory, he discovers that it was not created by humans, hinting that far greater and more mysterious secrets lie behind the existence of Etilburg.