Chapter 5 - The Demolition Countdown
The demolition of Harbor View was scheduled for dawn on Saturday. It was to be a controlled implosion, a spectacle of "progress."
Vincent spent the next forty-eight hours mobilizing his entire network. He didn't use guns; he used information. He leaked the blueprints of the "Apartment 309" surveillance hub to three separate media outlets, accompanied by evidence of the councilman’s bank transfers.
He didn't sleep. He spent the time with Ellie. He read to her. He taught her how to play chess. He discovered that for all his power, the thing he feared most was the disappointment in a seven-year-old’s eyes if he failed to keep his promise.
"Are we going to watch the building fall?" Ellie asked on Friday night.
"We are," Vincent said.
"Will the monster die?"
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"The monsters who live in buildings usually find somewhere else to hide," Vincent said. "But we’re going to make sure the world sees them first."
He had a plan to intercept the demolition sequence. If he could trigger the building’s internal alarm system—the one connected to the surveillance farm—he would broadcast the sounds of the "monster" across every frequency in the city. He would turn the conspiracy into a living, breathing broadcast.
