Episode 1

This article is about the episode. For the character, see Emma.

> "The camera is a fluid way of encountering that other reality."
>
> Jerry Uelsmann, Quote in the episode title card

***EMMA*** is the first episode of the first season of Link Click.

## Synopsis

In order to obtain evidence of falsified financial reports, Cheng Xiaoshi entered the world of photos taken by Emma, an employee of Vicky Games, under the command of Lu Guang.

## Plot

The episode opens with Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi at the Time Photo Studio, with the former tending to a few cameras and the latter playing video games on his phone. Qiao Ling soon enters the photo studio with a mission for the boys, chastising Cheng Xiaoshi for always messing around while Lu Guang, the younger one, remains the more responsible one out of the two.

When Lu Guang asks her about the commission, she begins explaining. A client wants to get the company Vicky Game’s core financial data before the third quarter report, but the data remains on the CFO, Mr. Zhu's body at all times and is nearly impossible to access without a close relationship with him. Emma, the CFO’s assistant, has the best chance of seeing the data. She then shows Lu Guang a photo taken by Emma at at 10:00 PM, 2 days before. It is a picture of some old and unappetizing spring rolls. Lu Guang then activates his powers to look through the image, and upon Cheng Xiaoshi asking him about any chances to get the data, he responds with there being only one.

The scene then cuts to later in the day, with Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi going over their 3 rules for dives:

1. Cheng Xiaoshi only gets 12 hours in a picture to complete their mission
2. Cheng Xiaoshi must follow Lu Guang’s instructions when in the picture so he does not alter the timeline.
3. Leave the past and future be.

Cheng Xiaoshi finishes the last rule, pointing out that he’s heard this a thousand times.  The two of them high five, and Cheng Xiaoshi enters the photo.

When Cheng Xiaoshi first enters the photo, Emma is sitting at her desk, posting an image of her egg rolls onto Moments. Mr. Zhu calls Emma to his office, where he attempts to advance Emma romantically.  Although she tries to decline politely, Mr. Zhu continues to coerce her until he backs her into a wall and leans in for a kiss.  Fortunately, Emma’s phone rings just in time, allowing for her to push away her boss.

The call is from her mother.  As he answers the call, Cheng Xiaoshi uses a greeting used with strangers and Emma’s mother responds by asking if she has the wrong number.  After she is reassured that she is talking to Emma, her mother asks about the photo that Emma had posted minutes earlier onto her Moments.  She is concerned that her daughter will get sick from working overtime, as well as eating such unhealthy food so late into the night.  Emma tries to deny it by saying it was a photo she took from home, but her mother tells her to stop lying.  Emma’s father also joins the call and tells her mother to not bother Emma at work.  He reminds Emma to block her mother from her Moments to avoid calls like this and tries to leave her with advice as well.

The call is interrupted by Mr. Zhu, who demands that the materials for the meeting the next day must be done that evening.  After ending the call, Mr. Zhu also adds on some additional responsibilities, including preparing the meeting room for the accounts meeting, which will occur at 9:00 AM the next day.  Emma is left alone in the office.

With help from Lu Guang, Cheng Xiaoshi is able to finish putting together the requested material before 2:00 AM.  As he works on the documents, Cheng Xiaoshi asks if Emma does this every day. Lu Guang tells him not to think about this, but to focus on getting the financial information from the meeting the next morning.

Emma arrives at home at 2:45 AM, only taking off her shoes before falling onto her bed.  She receives a message as soon as she closes her eyes, but Cheng Xiaoshi initially does not check it as per Lu Guang’s orders.  When she falls asleep, Emma dreams of her parents and eating spring rolls with them around the dining table.  This dream morphs into one Cheng Xiaoshi, where he sees his parents walk away from each other and the dining table and never return.

When he wakes up from the dream, it’s still dark out but Lu Guang is awake.  Cheng Xiaoshi tells the dream to him, who explains that their feelings are connected while he remains in the image.  Lu Guang tries to comfort Cheng Xiaoshi before going back to sleep, but he remains awake.  After some time, Cheng Xiaoshi checks Emma’s phone and sees an apology from her mother over getting her in trouble with Mr. Zhu.  Emma’s mother also adds how much she and her father love her.  The feeling of loneliness and being separated from his parents remains on his mind, and the scene ends with Cheng Xiaoshi on Emma's phone while Lu Guang falls asleep, disobeying the latter's words.

The next morning, Emma goes into work early to prepare the meeting room.  People begin to file into the meeting, sitting around the table that she has prepared.

During the meeting, Emma spills some tea that she had prepared earlier for her boss onto his pants.  She tries to help him wipe the tea, but as she does, Mr. Zhu’s wife comes in and accuses him of cheating on her with Emma.  Mr. Zhu puts the blame on Emma instead, saying she’s the one who provokes him.

Mr. Zhu’s wife slaps Emma, further insulting her for her rural upbringing.  Cheng Xiaoshi, enraged by the unfair treatment, glares at Mrs. Zhu, prepared to fight back, but stops himself after remembering Lu Guang’s rules. Mrs. Zhu hits her again, offended by Emma’s behavior.  She falls over, taking Mr. Zhu’s laptop down with her.  While she sits on the ground, Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi are able to extract the necessary financial information off of the laptop.

Soon after finishing the dive, Vicky Game’s higher ups are due to the fraudulent financial data that was found during Cheng Xiaoshi’s dive.  This includes the company’s CFO, Mr. Zhu.  Although she was not involved in the scandal, Emma’s proximity to those who were meant that it would be nearly impossible to find another job in her industry.

Dejected and tired from the day’s events, Emma goes home. As soon as she steps into her home, she begins to cry, but a plate of fresh spring rolls on her table catches her eyes. Next to it is a large pack of clothes and quilts in anticipation of the colder months that are coming. Those items are there because of Cheng Xiaoshi’s interference the night before.  It is revealed that Cheng Xiaoshi, in Emma's body, responded to her parents' texts the night before, with the message: "Mom, Dad, I miss you". Receiving her message, Emma’s parents go to her apartment to leave supplies for her so she can take better care of herself.

Emma calls her parents after seeing the supplies.  They tell her that although those items are likely available in the city, they are warmer when they come from home.  Moved, Emma asks them to wait at the train station so she can go and see them. In the rush to get there, a mysterious man offers her a ride and she accepts.

Back in the present, Cheng Xiaoshi wonders about Emma and asks Lu Guang about how she might be doing at that moment, to which Lu Guang replies that they must leave the future be. Qiao Ling enters the store with a new commission for the duo, and Cheng Xiaoshi runs off to greet her. Lu Guang watches a video on his phone, with a news report on it regarding Emma’s sudden and suspicious death.

## Trivia

* The company that Emma works at is called Quede Games (Vicky Games in funimation subs). In Chinese, the word 雀 (què) means sparrow, while 德 (dé) means morals.
	+ The company's name is homonymous with the phrase "缺德"" (*quē dé*), which means lacking morals, hinting at the corruption present in the company.
	+ Director Zhu telling Emma to "quickly become a phoenix and fly out of that sparrow nest" is also a reference to the company's name.