Chapter 12

The problem was, of course, that while on camera the Estranged would say their efforts were voluntary, the fear in their eyes spoke otherwise. Everyone knew the propaganda of Estranged Working with the Government to Save the World was horseshit. People were kidnapped. Drafted. Processed. And those were only the ones who had so-called “useful” Estrangements. There were plenty of people who didn’t fit that category.

Two percent of the population didn’t sound like much, but in a devastated population it was enough that just about everybody knew someone afflicted. Two percent was, after all, only the official estimate. Unofficial estimates put the Estranged at something like eight to ten percent.