Victory in Obscurity

sh again, given life by the very people it was about. I could feel the shift in the atmosphere, the mixture of pity and contempt direct

ured fingertip. "If you're having financial trouble, you only needed to ask.

asting me as a desperate failure, someone who had crawle

could even offer you an entry-level position at OmniCorp. Somethi

ove me that they could offer me a menial job in the empire they b

a simple design, an eagle with a shield, but to the few people in the world who would recognize it, it was

t David, meetin

y voice quiet but firm. "I

im. He was used to people fawning o

"There's no shame in admitting you made a mistake. We al

k?" I asked, a genuine

surprisingly tight. It was a gesture of dominance, a physical reminder of his power

y jacket was jostled. The small pin, t

udden jolt caused David's hand to clench tighter on my arm, and he lurched fo

er the rim, cascading do

ctly ont

sizzle, and a tiny wisp of smoke, almost invisible, rose from the pin

dwired into a secure government netw

ice. He was too

king at the stain on my jacket with disgus

use of a clumsy accident. An accident that had just sent a high-