Summary

On the train, Cassie sees articles about the first virus death in the US, wildfires, and a rent protest in San Francisco. When she arrives at the office, Sasha snipes at her for taking too long to check Noor’s references and dismisses Cassie’s mention of the meeting. She is leaving for Mexico. When Cassie presents directly to the CEO, her “fake self opens her mouth and begins” (169). Later, when Cassie and Maria are walking to the protest, they see Nicole sitting at a cafe with her friends. Nicole ushers them over and asserts that protests do not do anything. In the park, the protest begins peacefully however the crowd is surrounded by police in “black Kevlar vests, black helmets with black shields covering their eyes, black batons in their hands” (174). When they tell the crowd to disband, the protestors chant...