The city did not explode.
It fractured.
In the weeks after the blackout, Metro City split into quiet camps. Not gangs. Not militias.
Beliefs.
Some districts signed Calder’s infrastructure contracts immediately. They wanted stability. Predictable power. Security patrols that arrived on time.
Other districts resisted. They formed local councils, demanded open-source grids, pushed for public oversight.
The lines were not clean.
Families argued across dinner tables. Shop owners debated in doorways. Online forums became battlegrounds of philosophy.
Mark watched it all from a distance.
This was what choice looked like.
Messy.
Uncomfortable.
Real.
—
Devon paced the safehouse living room.
“They’re organizing faster than we expected,” he said.
Ifizi sat at the table, screens glowing
