…Minus 063 and COUNTING… When he awoke, it was still dark and

Richards wakes before dawn in Bradley’s drafty back bedroom while Cassie screams from illness. Bradley gets up to help quiet her, then returns, and Richards asks why a five-year-old has lung cancer.

Bradley explains that Boston’s air pollution is far worse than the public is told. Official pollution counts have not been reported for years, and ordinary people cannot afford real nose filters. Bradley reveals that Stacey has one because he and others made it themselves.

Bradley describes how some members of his group secretly use a stolen library card and a shared disguise to study pollution, smog, and filtration. Their research shows that older pollution laws were rolled back, current pollution levels are dangerous even on good days, and many deaths are falsely recorded as asthma rather than emphysema, lung cancer, or pollution-related disease.

Bradley argues that the Network and the Free-Vee keep poor people distracted while industry continues poisoning them. He says Cassie’s death will likely be hidden behind a false diagnosis, and he dreams of using Free-Vee airtime to expose the truth and show that effective nose filters could be widely available.

Richards is shaken by the revelation and realizes he is helping the same system by participating in the Games, though Bradley tells him he has no choice but to run. As Richards falls asleep, Bradley reflects that people are already angry and only need one reason to turn that anger into action.