Thirty-NineMachuzak stood for a long time in the parking lot after the detective drove off. Inside the MTF he remained immobilized, incapable of thought, and checked mail. During his five-minute absence Krieg-Zuber had issued a new memorandum: the staff will immediately prepare for crisis-response simulations, including terrorist attacks, cyber warfare and budgetary exigencies. As late as he is mad, Nathaniel blinked at the descending cloak of unreality, but the staff posted no protest videos.
He tuned in distractedly to the control-cast, now accompanied by a music track. Despite his removal, experiments were proceeding and Hasschler’s team had coaxed a twenty-second low-power burn out of Prometheus. Machuzak felt nothing at all, not even the ache of exclusion, only a distant recognition
