trust-rituals

In this chapter, Hackworth and Fiona journey into the Cascades foothills and encounter members of the Reformed Distributed Republic (R.D.R.), a faction that uses dangerous, trust-building rituals involving random, high-stakes tasks to create mutual dependency and social cohesion. Hackworth learns about the R.D.R.'s practices and shares a cryptic connection with Maggie, a local woman, through a device that transmits data via microscopic mites in the bloodstream, hinting at a deeper network of shared knowledge and relationships.