A large crowd had gathered in the plaza. On the steps of the insula, people stood watching the pandemonium in the square before us. I rose up on tiptoe to see over the shoulder of the tall man in front of me. The crowd appeared to be formed around an Enforcer and three plivoi—two women and a man. I realized, with a start, that one of the women and the man were the ball-playing couple from earlier.

“You can’t do this to us!” the woman shouted, her voice breaking. “This is our right. Our right as human beings.”

“It is not your right to violate the edicts of the geroi,” the Enforcer replied in a quieter voice. “These edicts have been chosen to ensure the survival of Iamos. All partnerships must follow the proper protocol and apply for a reproduction permit with the eugenics committee—”

“You think we haven’t done that?” the man broke in. “We’ve been turned down six times already!”

I leaned forward, tapping the man in front of me on the shoulder. “What’s going on?” I whispered.

“They got caught trying to smuggle Ferre into the city.”

I inhaled sharply through my nose. More of the Liberator’s doing.

The unfamiliar woman had stood quietly up to this point, but now she turned to the crowd and shouted, “People of Hope Renewed, do you not see how they strip your rights from you? Leaving the fundamental right to bear children to a faceless committee? Iamos is better than this! We were once a great and free people—”

The crowd around us on the steps began to shift, murmuring uneasily. I shrank back from them into the shadow of the doorway, and felt a steadying hand on my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Ceilos, but it was Isaak. “What are they talking about? Is everything okay?”

“We should leave,” I said. “Before this gets out of control.”

“That is enough!” the Enforcer bellowed. “If you will not submit—immediately—then I will have no choice but to use force.”

“Come on,” Ceilos said, pushing back into the doorway.

The unfamiliar woman yelled, “We will not submit! There can be no peace without freedom! In the name of the Liberator—” Her voice broke off in a scream, and she crumpled to the ground. Around us, the crowd broke into shouts and movement, some people trying to get away, but most surging forward at the Enforcer.

“What’s happening?” Isaak gasped. I gripped his elbow, trying to pull him back into the apartment after Ceilos, but he resisted me. “What are they doing to her?”

Someone in the crowd called out, “The geroi are the cause of this! The Liberator is Iamos’ true salvation! No peace without freedom! Death to the geroi!”