Page 120 - SurprisingTruthFinal

The Surprising Truth About Lying
Henry ran out of the museum, coughing on the dust
and the metallic scent of ionized air.
The city outside was consumed by its last, terrifying
sunset. The sky wasn't just orange and green from the
atmospheric contamination of Project Helios's near-
launch; it was laced with sickening streaks of purple
and electric blue, the plasma trails of the descending
kinetic rods. Sirens, the broken song of civilization,
were dying out one by one as the power infrastructure,
already held together by Henry’s Palliative, finally
buckled under the physical shockwaves.
He ran toward the highest point he could find: the
roof of a low, sturdy parking garage, desperate for a
view of the final curtain.
Up there, the wind carried the stench of ozone and
scorched earth. Henry stood alone, watching the world
burn not with the fire of hate, but with the cold logic of
Absolute Truth.
Sol admitted the threat. IU was compelled to
eliminate it. The destruction is a function of honesty.
He pulled out his satellite phone, his last connection
to the human network. It was dead, dark, fried by the
electromagnetic wash of the high-altitude impacts. He
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