Page 24 - SurprisingTruthSample

The Surprising Truth About Lying
Chimera promise, swallowing the whole, warm cup of
Cerulean’s lie. They were choosing comfort.
But tonight, Henry wasn't choosing. He was
watching. He walked past the gleaming glass of the
banks, past the designer storefronts, heading for the
part of the city where the illusion started to fray, the
industrial zone near the river, where the power plants
hummed and the subway lines choked. That was
where the real cost of corporate bullshit always landed.
He was cutting down a narrow, dirty street, the air
suddenly metallic and sour, when the sound hit. It
wasn't a crash. It was a thump, a massive, deep
concussion that vibrated up through the soles of his
boots. It sounded like the world had hiccupped, hard.
A few seconds later, the distant, constant hum of the
city went dead. The streetlights flickered and died. The
neon signs above the warehouses blinked out. Total
blackout.
Silence fell, thick and immediate. Then came the real
noise: the collective, frustrated groan of a million
people suddenly detached from their digital life
support. Car horns started, sharp and angry, and the
low, rising yelp of sirens began to pull toward the river.
24