Michael jumped to his feet just in time to see the man down on the dais crash to the floor, the thump of his body echoing through the chamber. A round of gasps circulated and another guard leaped onto the stage and ran for his fallen companion. Before the man made it halfway across the stage, however, he stumbled and fell, crashing face-first to the ground. He lay there, sprawled in a painful-looking tangle, unmoving.

Michael watched all this, bewildered.

None of the other guards moved. They stood looking at each other. It was impossible to know who’d been taken by Tangents and who hadn’t.

The chamber had grown incredibly silent.

Then Michael heard a sound. A familiar sound.

Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. A steady rhythm. Coming from somewhere below, from a place outside the stage, hidden in darkness. Tap tap tap. Heeled shoes, footsteps tapping along like a musical instrument.

Then, far below, Agent Weber appeared from the shadows. She reached the dais, took the stairs, and calmly crossed the stage. Guards parted for her, their confusion obvious to Michael even from a distance. But a dozen or so feet from her, a man suddenly raised his weapon, aiming it straight at her. Before he could pull the trigger, he collapsed to the ground, rolled down a couple of stairs, and came to rest in a twisted bundle of arms and legs. His weapon clanked against the floor.

Agent Weber never even paused.

Michael’s heart felt as if it had forgotten how to pump blood, his breathing at a standstill.

Weber looked down at the body of the guard who’d claimed to be Kaine, stepped over him, and moved to the podium proper. The microphone stood before her. She appeared comfortable, serene, as if she’d waited her whole life for this moment. The hologram now showed her to the masses within the chamber, the NewsBops surely projecting her image to the entire world.

She took a moment, allowing the shock of events to dissipate before she spoke. Michael forced himself to breathe now, trying to do it as calmly and as deeply as he could.

Agent Weber leaned forward an inch or two and spoke directly into the microphone.

“I can’t imagine the confusion and horror that all of you must feel right now,” she said. “Not just those of you in this once-beautiful audience chamber, but those watching around the world. What we’ve witnessed here today is a tragedy—there’s no debating that. But it’s also a moment of hope for us all. Our time to speak was meant for later, but under the circumstances, I felt it appropriate to come up here now and show you what we’ve prepared.”

She paused, flashing the smallest hint of a smile. Then she said something that gave Michael chills.