Water in Shaft 37

In person he looked thinner, colder, the kind of man who had been marinating his feelings in ice water for a long time. He stood at one of the terminals with a tablet in hand and barely looked up when they entered. “You’re later than I expected.” Marcus stepped forward. “Did you send those men?” “Which ones?” Harper asked calmly. “Each unit had a different job.” “You knew North Ring was lying.” “North Ring is absorbing capacity.” Harper looked at Erin’s child. “If everybody floods one point, the death count rises.” “You call that lower deaths?” Erin’s voice trembled. “You’re locking people out and letting them cook in the street.” “I call that reality.” The sentence landed like a block of ice in hot air.