48
The world crashed back in on Dale.
Almost eleven PM. He was up later than normal. The walls looked even more fragile, and the astonished faces around him looked weirdly brittle, like they’d shatter at his lightest touch. His skull had picked up a faint buzz. It was fatigue combined with his meds, nothing more. Dale could touch someone without harming them.
Not that he would. He wasn’t a creep.
His butt hurt from the folding chair. Imprisoned in the cheap sneakers, his feet ached.
Around him, the other sysadmins had jerked alert just like Dale.
John shook his head and turned back to his hacking. “The app is scalable. Adding Amos.”
Ralph was panting, wide-eyed. Fresh sweat marked his armpits.
Dale heaved himself to his feet. The day had left all his muscles and joints aching and h
