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Episode 8 - DCA and AHG

Episode 8 - DCA and AHG

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 Wondercraft narrates this Episode. Please provide feedback via the comments. Reagan National AirportThe fluorescent lights of Reagan National Airport cast their sterile glow across the terminal, creating a landscape of harsh shadows and brighter-than-life clarity that made Bryan McDonald's skin crawl. He'd spent most of his life in airports, first with the Navy and now as a contractor, but something had changed since the COVID years of 2020-2022. It wasn't the lingering fear of illness that bothered him—it was the masks that many still wore, despite the years that had passed."Facial recognition probably works better when half your face is covered," Bryan muttered under his breath, scanning the ceiling where cameras perched like mechanical gargoyles. "Makes the algorithms focus on the important parts."His phone buzzed—a message from Lillibeth. He hesitated before opening it, remembering their recent conversations about her student Jacob and his uncanny predictions. The message was brief: "Dad, the patterns are changing faster. J says watch the screens."Bryan frowned, looking up at the flight information displays. Everything seemed normal, but Jacob's warnings had been eerily accurate lately. He typed back: "Understood. Stay alert. Using clean protocols today."The irony wasn't lost on him. DCA was probably one of the most surveilled places on Earth, its corridors a maze of overlapping digital eyes feeding data to the NSA, CIA, and the newly-formed Federal Police Agency—what used to be the FBI before the "reorganization."His mind drifted back to that day when Ted had first approached him about joining the Hermes project. Even then, something had felt off. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt—the unholy trinity of intuition—had taken up residence in his gut, whispering warnings he'd chosen to ignore.The flight information board flickered, drawing his attention to his gate number: E57. He found himself humming Hank Williams Jr.'s "The American Way"—*If you fly in from Birmingham, you'll get the last gate; if you flew in from Boston, no, you sure won't have to wait.*As he walked, a TSA agent stopped him. "Sir, random check. Could you step over here?"Bryan complied, noting the agent's name tag: Wilson. The same name that had appeared in some of Hermes's more disturbing files."Heading home?" Wilson asked casually, swabbing Bryan's laptop bag."Asheville," Bryan replied, using the relaxed tone he'd perfected over years of such interactions. "Business trip wrapping up."Wilson nodded, but Bryan caught the slight pause in his movements, the quick glance at his tablet. Something had flagged in their system."Everything looks good, Mr. McDonald," Wilson said finally. "Have a safe flight."Bryan felt the weight of the agent's stare as he walked away. They knew who he was, of course. The question was: how much did they know?Finally reaching Gate E57, Bryan found his usual spot unoccupied—a seat against the solid wall, facing both the gate and the concourse, with easy access to a USB charger. An elderly man sat nearby, reading a paper."Where are you headed?" Bryan asked, more out of practiced courtesy than genuine interest."Asheville," the man replied. "My son has a place in Robbinsville. Invited me for the Fourth. Name's Tom. Thomas Jones.""John," Bryan replied, using his airport name. "From Sylva."Tom's eyes lit up. "Sylva? Then you must know Carolina Readiness Supply in Waynesville. And Doc's place in Murphy..." He trailed off, suddenly aware of their surroundings."No need to finish that sentence, Tom. TSA might get nervous."A group of teenagers in matching AHG shirts flooded the gate area, their chaperone trying to maintain order."First time in DC?" Tom asked one of the kids who'd sat nearby."Yes, sir!" The boy beamed. "We saw everything! The White House, Congress, even the new Unity Memorial!""Unity Memorial?" Tom raised an eyebrow at Bryan."New monument," Bryan explained quietly. "Built after the Party Reformation. Supposed to symbolize the merger that created the Unified Party.""Load of nonsense," an older woman interrupted, having overheard them. She introduced herself as Margaret, a retired history teacher. "They're rewriting history faster than we can teach it."The conversation was interrupted by a commotion near the security checkpoint. A man was arguing loudly with TSA agents, his voice carrying across the terminal."You can't do this! I have rights! The algorithms are wrong!"Bryan's hand instinctively moved to his phone, remembering Jacob's warning about watching the screens. Above them, the flight information display flickered again, this time showing a brief pattern of seemingly random characters before returning to normal."That's the third incident today," Margaret commented. "Something's got everyone on edge."Tom leaned closer to Bryan. "You feel it too, don't you? The tension. It's why I'm not coming back.""One-way ticket?" Bryan asked.Tom nodded. "Sold everything in DC. The condo, the car, all of ...
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