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can only nod in agreement.
    â€œFew strive to be anything more than what their society, their community, their heritage expects of them. The inertia of their lives keeps them from striving for anything more than some artificial idea of normality.” He scratches at his slightly whiskered cheek. It’s been a day or two since our leader has shaved. “And so, the minutiae of daily life don’t differ greatly from individual to individual. They are interchangeable components to the great experiment of humankind.” He sighs. “The truth is that there was an ocean of mindless, animated flesh out there before the Conformity awoke.”
    â€œRight, so, back to why Quincrux’s shittiness was your fault?” I prod.
    He walks over to a freezer and opens it. The air condenses, and water vapor begins to fall from the opening like smoke. Row upon row of colored, indexed tubes stand revealed, each one capped by a strange-looking mechanical device.
    Priest delicately withdraws one tube and hands it to me. It’s freezing, and I have to shift it from hand to hand to keep my skin from fusing to it. “Hiram Quincrux was special. Unique. As are you, Shreve, and you, Mr. Graves.”
    Weird how he addresses me by my first name, but not Jack. An echo of Quincrux, maybe.
    I look at the tube. It’s full of a red liquid, thinner than blood. The top looks like a mechanical interface to a device. The glass of the tube has a frosty, opaque area for labeling. Someone has written there: HOLLIS – Stasis .
    Priest’s face turns grim. “But he knew the uniqueness of these poor souls. And he did this.”
    Boom .
    â€œI am to blame,” Priest says, “because I wasn’t here to restrain him or temper his ambition. And so I must expiate that guilt.” He looks at me. “I felt you abroad in the etheric heights as the soldier attacked. What did you learn?”
    â€œThe Conformity soldier is in communication with the Conformity itself. I saw the tether as a sort of golden filament. It’s held together by a tremendously powerful telekinetic force and controlled by an equally powerful telepathic awareness.”
    â€œWhere was the ‘tether,’ as you call it?”
    â€œIn the crotch.”
    Priest nods again, as if confirming something he already suspected. “That makes sense from a purely operational standpoint. The ‘brain’ is situated deep in the body so that it is more protected and signals have to travel shorter distances. Yes, it makes perfect sense.” Priest stands. “Miss Tanzer has offered a theory on the soldiers, and I am agreeing with her more and more as new information becomes available. I would let her tell it to you herself, but she is occupied currently, preparing my plan.”
    â€œYour plan? You’ve got a plan?” I guess I’m amazed. I always make it up as I go along.
    â€œIndeed I do.”
    â€œCan you both just shut the fuck up and get to the point?” Jack says.
    I raise my eyebrow. “How can I shut the fuck up and get to the point? If I shut the fuck up then—”
    â€œI will blast you, Shreve,” Jack says, raising his hand.
    Priest snaps his fingers, drawing attention back to himself. “Miss Tanzer was puzzled as to why the soldiers and the Conformity itself weren’t subsuming everyone in its path. Just a percentage.”
    â€œYeah, that is weird,” I say.
    â€œShe believes that the Conformity is only subsuming people with extranatural abilities, either fully formed or latent.”
    â€œWow,” I say. It’s a stunning idea.
    â€œWhat about the worship?” asks Jack.
    â€œYeah, what’s up with that?”
    Priest looks grim. “Whatever the entity behind the Conformity, it’s a dark and foreign thing. Bodiless and malevolent. It feeds on psychic energy and grows itself. Prayer and worship are its food, essentially.”
    â€œBut it’s