The keys were not symbolic. That is why everyone treated them as if they were.
They opened offices, storage rooms, broadcast spaces, and doors I once entered without considering whether anyone else possessed a copy. I placed them in Henry’s hand because the institution needed one government.
For years, I believed authority was proven by the number of doors that opened when I approached. At the final gathering, authority became the ability to place the keys down and continue speaking without them.
The crowd applauded. Micah stopped them from approaching the stage. My children protected everyone from a crowd trained to convert every boundary into resistance.
I told a reporter I did not know what I wanted next. He waited. I had no second part.