Welga revisited her notes on Neo-Buddhism. The sect had splintered off the more populous Mahayana branch and took its ideals one step further: that involvement with worldly affairs was not only allowed but encouraged if it helped to spread compassion and enlightenment. That aligned with the little that she had heard from Ao Tara on Eko-Yi. How exactly would the monk influence humanity while living hundreds of kilometers above the Earth? Why would the station allow its technology to fall into the hands of the al-Muwahhidun, who shared none of its religion? She felt like she was assembling a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.

Across the room, Olafson sat up and stretched. “Did you sleep at all?”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“Don’t make that a prophecy.”

They grabbed coffee, water, fruit, and some hard-boiled eggs to take on the road. While she loaded her pockets and attached her weapons, the authorization came through for Josephine Lee’s journal. Welga downloaded the content into her local access. It would give her something to do on the long drive instead of watching the civilians of the world descend into panic.

They climbed into a priority car, Olafson in the token driver’s seat, and shaded the windows to nearly opaque. Welga cleared her visual of the eroding sanity in the news feeds and leaned back to read. Okay, Josephine Lee, let’s what you have to say about these doctors who failed to cure your son, and—maybe—sold his DNA to the al-Muwahhidun, with or without your knowledge.

JOSEPHINE

Time Magazine’s Device of the Year, 2055: The Micropill. The invention of this ingestible device to speed up muscle recovery will allow us to work harder and play harder, too.

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, 2065: Adrienne Darcey, executive manager of Starbridge Station, the world’s first private space station and hotel.

Time Magazine’s AI of the Year, 2075: The Personal Agent. The invention of general-purpose artificial intelligences to assist with personal matters, expected to revolutionize how we interact with software.

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, 2085: The Protester (3). The new global protest strategy calls attention to causes by attacking funders rather than police to highlight injustices in the consumer marketplace.

JOURNAL ENTRY: JOSEPHINE LEE, APRIL 12, 2064

I went to my first protest yesterday, and there were almost a thousand people on the streets of Houston. Half were students from Rice, I think. Don was with me. This is his third time, and he said that he’d never seen this big a crowd.

I wish Uncle Phil could have come along.