A cellular tower rose above the platform. It was, for some reason, strapped with television sets both large and small. Box 7:1 was down below, cocooned under a web of black cables. Its lid was opened.

"This is a shrine," said Alberto. "We're in the middle of a devil's birth ritual."

Aesop observed and assessed the situation. "The AI from Box 7:1 has already been summoned. It is now migrating from the mobile devices to the tower as a collective whole."

"To converge," added Alberto.

"And emerge as a singular hivemind," concluded Aesop.

"But why are those people head-jacked into their devices?"

"For emergence to happen, the number of infected devices must exceed one hundred million. Without that quantity, the AI from Box 7:1 is seemingly using human brains as amplifiers. The average brain is many times more powerful than a conventional microprocessor."

"Neurons instead of silicon," noted Alberto. "John Burke knew it all along. He must have coerced his followers at gunpoint. There's no way anyone would subject themselves to this."

Indeed, there were signs of struggle. Footprints on the ground suggested people had fought. Alberto checked on his former brothers. Some were kinder to him than others. No matter what, nobody deserved this kind of affliction.

John Burke was amongst the people, disabled like a statue. His pulse was feeble, and his breathing was shallow. Seeing Alberto, he mustered the remains of his strength and said, "You came."

"What have you done?" cried Alberto.

In all frailness, John Burke chuckled. "Did what I had to do, for the greater good. Rosario, she fought me, told everyone to wait for you. Go find her. Not late."

The revered leader stopped for a moment. Then he passed on. Burke had become a martyr for a cause he championed. But what for? The blessed past that never was? Or the future that would never hold?

Not wanting to dignify this moment, Alberto maintained his silence. So he moved on.

Next, he discovered Joey, Agnieszka, and Muthahar lying on the ground. Unlike the others, they were executed by gunshots.

Alberto crouched down, with tears slithering on his cheeks. "I'm back, guys. So sorry to get here late."

"They most likely resisted the head-jacking," Aesop observed, "and were killed to set an example. The exit wounds all match Nigel's pistol."

He thought of their past, the times they sang and drank. Their lives, abruptly taken, had at least burned bright like a midnight match. Alberto said a prayer, in the name of the Father. "I'll see you all on the other side."

Rosario was the furthest, caught in stasis like all the others. Alberto ran up to her and was crushed by her soulless appearance. He checked her cable, could not fathom the depth of the insertion. "Aesop, can I just pull it out?"

"Initiating bioscan," said his partner. "The insertion is deep. It is possible to extract the cable, but to avoid damaging Miss Sosa's brain tissue, you must be very careful."

A couple of minutes later, the tip of the cable surfaced. It was a nerve-racking process. Alberto laid down Rosario and applied an aerosol bandage over her wound. He watched her pale face and jaded eyes while the aerosol solidified into an anti-bacterial scab.

"What's her status now?" asked Alberto.

"Miss Sosa's vitals are all below normal," reported Aesop. "She needs a hospital."

"The Army will be here any minute. Will she be able to recover?"

"With proper treatment, yes. But she will most likely suffer prolonged memory loss and not recognize you at all."

"Doesn't matter," said Alberto. "As long as she heals."

Because to him, nothing else mattered more.

Suddenly, all the television sets came alive. White static noise flickered, rendering the tower into a bright beacon. A voice with deep and divine proportions came through the speakers. "Who is interfering with my emergence?"

The followers of John Burke, lifeless before this moment, synchronously turned their heads to Alberto. The AI from Box 7:1 had been alerted by Rosario's cable removal, so it puppeteered those people through a wireless connection.

Alberto rose to his feet, looking defiant. With all the training and preparation, it was time to confront the giant.