The intake board pulsed like a heartbeat that wasn't human.
CALDER, PAUL - 11:56 Pm
Jessica didn't need to look at the clock to know how close that was. She
could feel it now __ thirty seconds like a tightening wire around a stranger's
chesst. The awareness sat behind her eyes like pressure, like the world had
become a room full of invisible timers.
Paul Calder sat near the far wall with his hands folded in his lap as if he
were trying to behave his way out of death. His shoulders were rounded, his
hair thin and gray, his eyes fixed on the floor.
He didn't look panicked.
He looked resigned.
Which, Jessica realized with a sudden chill, was exactly the kind of
resignation a system would prefer.
Compliance.
Quiet.
No complications.
Jessica walked towards the intake desk
