I remember the fish and chips shop. My mother was pulling my hand.

  Or maybe it wasn't my mother. Maybe it was my grandmother.

  That's all. Then somehow, I was in this city.

  It feels like it should be important, but I don't remember much from back then. Not much... but I have a few weird memories.

  Memories from other people. No, not just memories. It feels like two other "me's" are living inside me. It confuses me, so I try not to think about it too much.

  Two others besides me. A fifteen-year-old me. And a thirty-year-old me.

  What is this?

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  Are they even me?

  I can't remember my family. If I could, maybe I'd know if we're all the same person.

  Anyway, back then, I was probably five.

  Just a normal kid you could find anywhere, running around the house. I remember trying to run under the dining table, not ducking enough, and hitting my forehead. Hard.

  Maybe I was the fifteen-year-old who skipped school. Maybe I was the thirty-year-old who looked like a madman.

  I remember dumb stuff like that, but I can't remember the important things. Not even my own name.

  I think someone gave me the name "Phony" right after I got here. I don't know why. Because I'm fake? A counterfeit?

  "PHONY: A fake. A counterfeit."

  The Imperial Capital. The Dark District: No Hope.

  Phony—that's me—sits in the back alley, wrapped in rags, looking up at the night sky. Thinking back.

  Why did I end up in a world like this?

  Can I ever go back? I don't even know the name of this country.

  Old Man Kumi, who lives in the alley next to mine, just calls it "The Imperial Capital."

  The Imperial Capital. The Dark District of No Hope. Security is bad, and there aren't many rich people.