#Chapter 168: The Rally

By the time we reached the plaza, the crowd had already begun to form. First hundreds, then thousands, pack members of every rank and region pressed shoulder to shoulder in the morning light. Some stood on benches or stone ledges, while others clutched phones and radios. The sky above was cloudless and tense, as if it understood what this moment was meant to carry. Security had swept the perimeter three times before I arrived. Four individuals had already been detained, each one disguised with scent-masking salves that didn’t hold up under scrutiny. One carried a microtone bead fused with a corrosion core. Another had tucked a coded drone key into the seam of his boot. They were intercepted before they got within ten feet of the crowd. A fifth was caught trying to slip past the relay gate with a burner scanner and a concealed signal scrambler tucked into the lining of his jacket. He didn’t make it to the second checkpoint. The platform was set with deliberate simplicity. There wa