CHAPTER SIXTEEN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2027 9:05am
(02:06:22:53)
They stood waiting in the plaza like vultures knowing something would shortly die at their feet. It was the press version of circling the dead. Marcus had faced these encounters before, walked head down through the shouting before, ignored the accusations before. But they had pulled it from him, the rage, that primal belief that they were wrong and he didn’t deserve it. He had stood there letting time drift over him, letting the calls and questions blur, feeling the subtle pressure of bodies and microphones. He had stepped numbly over twisted cabling, pushing through the crowd that was more a straight jacket tightening around him.
That was in the beginning. Parents thought it was all too real. They feared it would confuse th
