Dr. Sable Tick introduced herself as a behavioral scientist.
Gilden gave her an unlimited solder budget and a deliberately vague mission: study desire.
She began with Hood County’s sex workers.
The official explanation was public health. The actual study measured persuasion, reward, shame, attraction, dependency and how quickly behavior changed when incentives were altered.
Gilden wanted to know which buttons to push.
The bugs being studied wanted to know when they got paid.
While Sable collected data, Dewdrop expanded.
Dewdrop Records became a real label.
Then came Dew Wear.
Then a chain of customized roach coaches serving food, drinks and music chips.
Hood County Magazine published its annual list of the top soldermakers in rap.
MC Ian made the list.
Marshal Orb made the list, to his embarrassment.
Dewdrop was number one.
He framed the issue and hung it over the toilet.
“Why there?” Ian asked.
“So I can look at success while handling business.”
Ian stared at him.
“That might be the most Dewdrop thing you’ve ever said.”
Success should have felt good.
Instead Ian had begun waking at night with fragments of Gilden’s commands running through his head.
Acquire access.
Build trust.
Locate reserves.
Recruit followers.
The words no longer sounded like instructions.
They sounded like somebody else inside him.