“Max, okay, let's slow things down,” Angst said softly.
“Don't try and de-escalate me, I'm the one who fucking de-escalates people. You know it's true – they are watching me everywhere I go. And don't you dare cast one of your fucking spells on me. I don't want to be calm.”
“Okay,” she said. “That's fair.”
Max could tell he was scaring her. He took a deep breath and activated the appropriate implant. The equations began processing.
“I'm sorry, Angst. I'm not mad at you. I just got scared.”
Her posture relaxed slightly. “I know. And you're not wrong – you are being tracked. We know that.”
Max rubbed his forehead. “Do we? I mean... Jesus, it's just that everywhere... It's so loud everywhere, you know? All I hear is alarms and cries for help. And even the silences between them are just spaces for more alarms to fill. And I'm trying to figure out this whole System thing, and the Counter-System. If they're even fucking real. How do I know? It's something Control told me, but what if it's just another thing I made up. Like Maggie.”
Angst tensed again. “Maggie's real, Max. I've met Maggie.”
“How do I know you're real?” He looked at her, his eyes wide.
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