By morning, Meridian Bay had transformed. The manifesto had spread beyond the city, becoming global news overnight. Maya noticed the changes immediately as she approached the Federal Analysis Bureau building—increased security, nervous glances, hushed conversations that she couldn't hear but could read in the tense body language of everyone she passed.
Her security badge was checked twice before she reached the elevator, a departure from the casual nods she usually received. The manifesto had accomplished exactly what the Conductor intended: disruption of the normal rhythms of society, a collective holding of breath.
The analysis lab was unusually crowded when Maya arrived. Colleagues who typically avoided her space had gathered around monitors displaying news coverage. She caught fragme
