The Cascadia Plan

PROLOGUE

JUNE 17TH 2034

09:13 AM

UNDISCLOSED MEETING PLACE

EASTERN UNITED STATES

"This is a terrible idea. We cannot justify doing this!" A woman with long blond hair exclaims, her face contorting in anger and distress. "This is...awful!"

"Oh, shut up, McNeil! It's our only choice," says a broad shouldered man, slamming his fist on the table in front of him. "You can't back out now! If this goes wrong, we'll all go down for it!"

"Well, I want to back out. You have to erase me from all of this," McNeil cries.

The man sighs in annoyance. "I...You made the choice to be a part of this! You signed a fuckng NDA for God's sake. Why the hell are you chickening out now?"

McNeil throws her hands up. "I just...I realized exactly what we're doing. We think we're trying to save everyone, but why at the expense of others? Isn't there a way we can save everyone, Morrow?"

"No, there's not. We have to see how they'll adapt. That way, we can prove we can all go back to normal."

"I'm not comfortable with this. I'm not. I understood that we were trying to do good, but now I understand what that 'good' entails. And I don't want to be a part of the evil that you people are taking a part in."

Morrow sighs in annoyance. "I guess I could pull some strings and get you out. But just you. I don't know what changed your mind, and I don't want to know why. I don't care. Just get out of my office. We don't stand for cowards here."

"You're telling me that standing up for my morals is cowardly?" McNeil snaps.

"It is if you're putting the entire population on this line to defend them," Morrow replies stiffly. He grabs a stack of papers and begins rifling through them. "We're doing good work here. It's sad that you're incapable of seeing it."

She narrows her eyes at him and stands up tall. "No, you're not. Not at all, and I'd say most Americans would agree with me if they knew."

Morrow tosses the papers aside lazily. "Remember that even though you're being let go, your NDA agreement still stands. You're prohibited from telling anyone about this."

"That's not right."

"Don't push me on this. You know what happens when you breach a confidentiality clause like that," Morrow threatens.

"I don't care if it's a week from now, a month from now, or several years from now. The people will figure out what was done and who did it, and I'd hate to be the sorry fucker who gets the backlash of it," McNeil retorts.

"Get out of my office. And make sure to prepare. If you're not one of us, you're one of them."