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said. When she sensed an opening, she jumped back in. “Maybe, but how can we know until we’re able to isolate the root cause of…”
    Her comment was stepped on again. She flared her nostrils as he talked. Finally, unable to be silent, she forced a question into the conversation. “And what if I’m convinced it’s not a transmission problem?”
    She listened briefly and interrupted. “I’m well aware of that, but you have to face the other possibilities…Look, if all you wanted was a rubber stamp, then why did you send for me?”
    Forced again to listen, she drummed her fingers and then swiveled her chair to glance at the arena. Additional techs were flooding onto the floor. She perked up. Something new was happening.
    She suddenly realized the other voice had paused, so she quickly filled the space. “I know it’s just a handful of lines so far. The trick is to find out what’s really happening, and I’m worried we’re underestimating…yes, you, you’re underestimating. I’m saying there’s something else behind this.”
    Below her, the walls of displays were rapidly changing. Similar images began to crowd onto more and more of the monitors. Various views of a terrible freeway pileup started to populate across the rows of screens. Quyron rose from her chair and stared. Some of the images showed aerial views, others hovered beside the drivers, and a few views were actually inside the damaged vehicles. A set of deep, sonorous tones began to ring through the arena.
    “I’m sorry. We have an acquisition overload alarm. Some large group event…an accident – yes, car accident, and – just a moment…”
    Quyron had quickly opened chains of windows on her screens while she talked. As fast as she could open them, all began overflowing with data.
    “The nexus is overwhelming the nanos and the archive and…” She grimly opened more engineering modules and watched the crashing trends as the multiplied lines continued to multiply.
    “…I have to deal with this now…right, sometimes there’s no choice…I’m sure you do. Thank you, sir.”
    She disconnected with a tap to her ear and harshly called out. “Echo? I need an assessment right now and your best case scenario!”

CHAPTER 3:
    Hamilton Terrace curved through an older neighborhood in Turpin Hills. Stately trees on the boulevard nearly touched their upper branches across the patched asphalt. As in many areas in Cincinnati, young families had refurbished the vintage homes over the years, and refilled the quiet blocks with children and noise. Today, however, was beyond anything that had ever happened before.
    Anxious homeowners filled the yards and sidewalks, all drawn by the distant sirens and the ominous tower of smoke from the freeway. Some teens tapped their iPhone screens checking for news. All eyes tracked the flashing lights of emergency vehicles wailing by on Beacon Street, a block away. Flocks of boys on bikes swirled about, gathering speed, then joyfully flew off to gawk at whatever there was to see.
    Kendall and Josh staggered along the uneven sidewalk, moving against the current of the loose crowd. Josh limped and Kendall pressed a bloody handkerchief against his forehead. A few women cast questioning looks their way, but no one asked anything.
    Kendall glanced around, momentarily confused. “We almost there?”
    Josh motioned up the road. “Yeah, we cut through that playground ahead and we’re at the back of the church. You need to stop?”
    “No. I don’t know.” He twisted his head and squinted as if something inside was hurting. “I don’t know what I need. I just want to get home.”
    The road ended in a cul-de-sac right in front of a small park with playground equipment. Josh paused and turned in a slow half circle, taking everything in. “Does this all look right to you?”
    “What?”
    “This.” He waved his arm at the neighborhood.
    “Not sure. Like what?”
    “The road, the houses…I don’t know. Things