Page 24 - DivineSparkRisingFinal

Divine Spark Rising
slogans, murals, adverts, across culture, then sat
back to watch what happened.
“You mean a marketing firm.”
“No. A machine. Their operatives are called
Redactors. They don’t sell stuff, they mess with
who you are. They test words until they stick like
glue, until they sound normal. They keep
hammering until the phrases sink in. When enough
of them line up, the switch flips.”
“You make it sound like a religion,” he said,
almost laughing.
“It’s worse,” she said. “It’s scalable. It’s surgical.
It can liberate an entire people or enslave them.
And right now the fragments are moving. And if
Chorus gets them first, it is over.”
“And you want me to walk back into the fire
with the same person who helped light it.”
“I lit the match, yes. I will put it out. If that
means lying, stealing, breaking laws, breaking
people, I will do it. That is the difference between
us, Henry. I don’t stop when it gets ugly.”
He held her for a long beat, saying nothing.
Then breathed out.
“I don’t trust you, Carolina. Not yet. Maybe not
ever.”
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