Prologue (Flipside)

The prologue introduces Salas, Renner, and Viv, a trio of high school seniors working on their final project in the school library. Salas is uninterested at first, but upon realizing the project could save his grade, he commits to helping. Their presentation goes fine, and afterward, they discuss their post-graduation plans to launch a business called "Magic Touch." Renner entrusts Salas with $15,000 to open a business account, but Salas later learns his scholarship was rejected, and tuition is beyond his means. Faced with the choice of using the money for school or the business, Salas appears to waver.

The story then jumps forward four years. Magic Touch has become a thriving business run by Salas, Viv, and Renner. However, Salas wakes up one morning to a drastically different world. His neighborhood looks better, the business is abandoned, and Renner and Viv now view him with hostility, accusing him of betraying them years ago. Salas realizes he’s in a flipped version of his world, where another version of himself used the money for college instead of the business, leading to Magic Touch becoming a major corporation at Renner and Viv's expense.

Salas encounters flipped versions of his friends, who reluctantly agree to help him figure out what’s going on. The flipped Renner and Viv are harsher and more cynical, blaming him for their struggles. The chapter ends with Salas confronting this altered reality, unsure of how to make things right.