The census workers arrived carrying money.
Thirty pieces of solder for every resident who enrolled.
The lines stretched down Main Street.
False Black stood outside The Nest watching bugs trade fingerprints, household maps, family histories, work records and circuit identification numbers for a small pouch of metal.
“What?” Dewdrop asked. “Free solder is free solder.”
False looked at him.
“There ain’t no such thing as free solder.”
The census taker, Mr. Countwell, was Gilden’s sixth infiltrator.
By sunset he knew more about Hood County than Marshal Orb had learned in twenty years.
Gilden merged the census data with Echo Webb’s recordings, Reverend Mercy Mantis’s vaccination records, Roachman’s home inspections and Dr. Sable Tick’s behavioral profiles.
Jocko watched the files connect across the screen.
“You have built a map of everyone.”
“A predictive model.”
“A map.”
“A model.”
“A very creepy map.”
False Black responded the only way he knew how.
His second album was called Yo! Bum Rush the Nest.
It was louder, angrier and more political than the first.
The record accused Hood County’s leaders of selling the town one form at a time.
Vale called it irresponsible.
The Reverend called it spiritually corrosive.
Countwell called it misinformation.
Sales tripled.
Gilden called for Ian.
This time the command came through the implant with enough force to drop him to one knee.
Dewdrop rushed over.
“You good?”
Ian looked up.
For the first time, he lied to his partner instead of lying for Gilden.
“Yeah,” he said. “Just a bad circuit.”