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Nicholas Boothman
Chapter 2:
The Unbelievable Truth
The cold air outside hit Henry like a bucket of
water. He stepped off the plush carpet of the executive
elevator lobby and onto the raw concrete sidewalk, a
thousand feet below his silent, dark glass cage. It was
past seven, the sky smeared orange and purple, the
city’s exhaust cloud reflecting the streetlights.
He hadn’t planned this. Leaving the office, turning
off the phone, telling the CEO’s panicked voice to go
mute, it wasn’t a resignation. It was a jailbreak. He felt
the worn leather of his jacket, the only truly honest
thing he owned, and the lightness in his chest was
dizzying. He had spent ten years trading that lightness
for comfort.
He merged into the homeward rush, the crowd a
river of tired faces glued to their screens, all checking
the news that he had just filtered for them. They were
reading Dr. Sharma’s sincere face, absorbing the Project
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