Chain Gang All Stars

Staxxx tells Thurwar about the night she killed Sunset.

He was very close to High Freedom and it was a BlackOut night, meaning the cameras turned off. After everyone else went to bed, Sunset told Staxxx about the new rule that would require her to fight Thurwar—he learned about it from Jerry. Sunset was worried about High Freedom because he wasn’t sure he deserved it; despite preaching the importance of self-forgiveness to the others, he struggled to forgive himself. Most of all, Sunset dreaded meeting his daughter, Mari. Because of all of this, Sunset no longer wanted to live, so he asked Staxxx to help him guide his blade to slit his throat. Staxxx held and comforted him as he died.

While Staxxx tells Thurwar about Sunset, the market is still in chaos. Police have started using tear gas. A footnote explains that this is a substance forbidden outside of war by international law but legal to be used on civilians in the US. Police also tase people; in another footnote, readers learn that although tasers can cause death, these devices are regularly used for civilian crowd control. Most people leave, and then the Links are led away too.