EPISODE 8: THE RECKONING ## CHAPTER 1: THE TRIBUNAL Twenty-six months after the signal. The question of justice couldn't be avoided forever. Eight hundred million dead. Billions transformed against their will. Civilization shattered and rebuilt. The architects of the Cleansing—those who survived—had to answer for what they'd done. Alexander Thorne was the obvious focus. He'd been in Living custody since the Collective agreed to transfer him. Not imprisonment exactly—more like protective custody. There were still plenty of people who wanted him dead. "He deserves a trial," Martha Callahan declared during the council meeting that would determine his fate. "A real one, not Strand's theatrical execution." "He killed eight hundred million people." "He changed humanity. Some of those changes killed people. Some of those changes saved people." Martha met the angry eyes around the table. "I'm not defending him. I'm saying we need to understand what happened before we judge it." "What's to understand? He released a signal that killed hundreds of millions." "He released a signal that eliminated deception from human psychology. The deaths were consequences—some predictable, some not. If we just execute him, we lose the chance to learn why. To prevent anything like this from ever happening again." The debate raged for hours. In the end, they agreed: a tribunal. Not just for Thorne, but for all...