Chapter 12
The New Normal
The news anchor, a perfectly coiffed man with a forced smile, looked directly into the camera. "Well, it has been three months since Light's message once again saved mankind. His solution, once feared as a possible betrayal, has instead brought a new kind of peace to our fractured world."
The scene cut to a shot of a busy street in what was once London. People walked calmly, going about their lives. The purplish sky remained, a perpetual bruise over the city, but the fear was gone. Billions of people, the anchor continued, had been saved by the tattoo. The mark, as everyone had come to call it. A simple barcode design that did not hurt and took only five minutes to apply. The mark, he explained, had tamed and locked away the "unknown species," the demons that had descended upon the world.
A different graphic appeared on screen, a clean, modern building with a stark, brutalist design. "The creatures now await trial at the world-famous Gaulet," the anchor said, his tone one of hushed awe. "A place where Light has held them for months. He has not yet given a verdict, but it should be in the near future. Back to you, Tom."
The broadcast shifted back to the news studio, where another anchor, a woman with a kind but serious face, took over. She spoke of the mark as a miracle, a gift from Light to his people. She spoke of the new world order, where the human collaborators had been pardoned and were now working to rebuild the world alongside those who had refused to take the mark. The demons, now powerless, were held captive. The world, it seemed, was safe again.