At six o'clock every night they post the same infomercial. That same blurred video of a teenage boy walking through Piccadilly Station more than a decade ago. He has a brand new bag on his back, bulging with menace. The people around him, regular commuters trying to get to work, stop as he passes them. They turn, transfixed and follow him as he leads them deeper onto the platform. The image pauses: one young boy and fifty innocent people, blown to pieces. He was a Reacher and that one act of terrorism condemned every man and woman like him to death.

 

The infomercial always finishes with the warning: Look out for suspicious, paranormal activity - report any irregularities to the authorities - it could be your neighbour, your colleagues - remain vigilant and we will win this war.

 

The Piccadilly bomber is the only known Reacher to have ever launched an attack on London. An average of eighteen attacks a year for over ten years and they still blame Reachers every single time. They hunt us. Capture us. Cart us off to the Institute to be experimented on. There are so few of us now. My name is Rachel Aaron and I'm a Reacher.