Rich Under Their Hate: The Social Status System
Sirens—real, human sirens, not the digital phantom of the Algorithm—were wailing in the distance.
"Are you... alive?" Pim gasped.
Chalida crawled out from under a pile of rubble, her jacket torn, her face smeared with soot. She checked her phone. It was dead. Completely, utterly fried by the EMP blast of the server’s destruction.
"It’s gone," Chalida whispered, a slow smile spreading across her face. "The app. The money. The power. It’s all in the trash."
"We’re alive," Pim said, pulling herself up. "We’re really, actually alive."