Marcus emails the press after first blogging his intention to have a press conference on Xnet, ensuring that he won’t be the only voice advocating against the DHS. During the press conference, he texts that he is not a leader of anything, but that the DHS, without his consent has turned San Francisco into a police state where every citizen is a terrorist suspect. He then turns all the questions over to his fellow Xnetters. He does, however, point out that the DHS is failing at protecting Americans against terrorism because they themselves provoke terror, and their screening tactics are so flawed that a high schooler could get past them.

The press focuses on his boast that he could easily circumvent DHS security measures, prompting one newscaster to label Xnetters as “Cal Qaeda” (241). The DHS doubles security in San Francisco after the press conference and begins to arrest Xnetters in record numbers to unravel the network. Marcus and Ange argue over the safety of jamming; Marcus wants Xnetters to stop jamming to avoid arrest, but Ange believes backing down is cowardly. Marcus leaves on bad terms.

While leaving school the next day, Marcus is knocked to the ground by Zeb, a teen without a home, who plants a message in Marcus’s backpack that reveals that Darryl is still alive on Treasure Island.