Dangerous Liberty

A story from the world of Montauk: armed with a shocking secret about Hegemon's vision for the future, Prometheus hijacks the world's last late night show to share the news

This is the finale of the Montauk Serial. If you’re behind, or just discovering the storyline now, here is the table of contents:

1 Minute to Air

The control room of the Hegemony Broadcast authority was as vast as it was empty. Originally designed to hold a dozen or so staff members, robotics and quarantine protocol had thinned their number to one: a lone director sitting before a switcher board, with rising rows of lifeless computer screens behind him. He was fat from lack of exercise, so much so that his gut actually blocked him from reaching some of the controls.

He adjusted his headset. “Rex, can you hear me?”

A smooth, fast-talking voice quipped back: “Loud ‘n clear, Ben.”

At the front of the control room, an enormous bank of monitors began popping to life, showing the faces of different Hegemony citizens through the cameras built into their TVs. Viewership wasn’t mandatory, of course, but in the IsoHabs, what else was there to do?