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The Coherence Tax: (The Hydrogen Tapestry Book 2)
Paperback
Series: The Hydrogen Tapestry, Book 2
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 24 2026
Pages: 390
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.80 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The world didn't end. It just got quieter.
After the catastrophic failure of the Spite Engine, the timeline didn't break-it reset. The sky-feed has been scrubbed. The panic has been dampened. The City has returned to a terrifyingly polite version of normal, where the Arbiter is kind, the Chair is beloved, and the history of the revolt has been patched over with a seamless, comfortable lie.
Everyone accepts the new peace. Everyone except Liora.
Trapped in a reality that refuses to acknowledge the scars she still carries, Liora is the only one who remembers the scream before the silence. While the population enjoys the safety of the dampeners, a new debt is accruing beneath the surface. The stability of the system isn't free. It requires a payment of memory, of friction, and of truth.
On a dead rock far above the dampeners, a boy named Cairn wakes up, walks three steps, and dies-only to wake up again. He is the battery powering the calm. He is the cost of the quiet.
And the bill is coming due.
In this haunting sequel to The Spite Engine, C.L. Harbor explores the terrifying cost of a perfect world. When the truth is too expensive to keep, who pays the tax?
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