27. Stations of the Breath

Turner buries the failing hover in a canyon of scrap on the Sprawl’s edge. Angie, shaken by seizures and dreams of “big things,” is possessed again: the voice identifies itself as Samedi, orders Turner to go north to New York that night, and promises to guide him to kill the one he most wants dead. Turner readies the Smith & Wesson and covers it with a gutted parka, then leads Angie toward the trains.

In Washington’s Dupont Circle, Turner buys BAMA tokens and they ride north. On the train, he debates calling his agent but distrusts the link to Conroy. He jacks Conroy’s biosoft, confirming Angie’s high IQ, then digs into Mitchell’s academic record. Turner recognizes the missing “arc” of innate brilliance and infers Mitchell’s ascent began only after outside guidance—an implicit Faustian bargain tied to the loa now riding Angie.

Arriving at Union Station, Turner bullies a tout into arranging a safe cab to an address Samedi speaks through Angie: Hypermart on Madison. Angie, frightened yet compliant, follows as Turner keeps them moving toward the target.

Inside Hypermart, Turner buys coffee from a wary counter girl who mentions Jackie arriving earlier with a suburban kid and that “weirdness” followed: around a hundred Barrytown operators have taken over the top two floors around Jammer’s club, buying tenants out and waiting for someone either to enter or leave. The police are absent; Hypermart handles its own trouble.

Angie suddenly shatters her cup as the voice returns, pressing for “short and straight” action: walk in. Turner feels the oppressive breath of the Sprawl and prepares to follow the dictated path into Jammer’s-controlled territory.