Then a scream from somebody in the crowd.

And another as the Teacher hits the deck.

Then it rains.

The drumroll of bodies smashing into concrete and cracking onto cars causes hysteria with the waiting audience. It’s like a terrorist attack, but the innocent bystanders only come to harm psychologically.

Pace sees a muscular man in his periphery fold in half as he hits the protective barrier of the bridge then slip head first down another twenty-something feet into the Thames.

But he doesn’t take his eyes away from the doctor, who still has his finger pointing up, like he is pressing against Pace’s lips from a distance, telling him to shh.

When the final body crumples and dies and panic sets into those who have viewed it, Artaud’s finger changes into a full hand that turns over as though presenting his masterpiece.

He brings the other hand up, palms to the sky, offering himself to be handcuffed.

132

236–254

We are The People of Choice. But the choice was never ours.

If we don’t want to die then we have to. What kind of an option is that? But if we do, if we are truly in our darkest place, if we are honest and still believe in our own worthlessness, then, and only then, can we be saved.

Then, our unknown leader will show us mercy.

He will help us through our pain.

The ones now with courage. The nerve to re-examine ourselves. To better ourselves. To talk to someone about the things we cannot say to anyone else. To trust a stranger with our secrets and emotions that we hide from the rest of the world. To break through before we break down. And we choose not to fear.

Yet we are judged. We are deemed unfit for this overpopulated planet. Our problems are not real. Or not real enough. We have brought this on ourselves. We are not depressed. We are spoiled. We are entitled. We are precious millennial snowflakes, only without the individuality.

This is one solution. Because he has decided it so. This is his design. Yet, it is not the end. It may look like the grand finale, but narcissism could never allow the Detective to be remembered as his final kill.

There are more who choose to live. Global Chinese whispers will continue to dilute and warp the message. More helpless people in the farthest reaches of the globe will take their lives in the name of our pretend cult. That is part of the ongoing legacy that we have helped create and perpetuate.

There is but one certainty. We are all dead. Crushed on the inside with a feeling of hopelessness that led us to that bridge in the first place. Then physically crushed by the weight of our organs reacting to gravity. Our hearts and lungs continuing to travel towards the ground even when our bones have stopped.

Nobody ever gets out alive.