{
  "id": 6570491,
  "title": "Imagining a Future Where a Spy Could Disappear",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/imagining-a-future-where-a-spy-could-disappear",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-10T10:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Wired",
    "slug": "wired",
    "url": "https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-emily-st-john-mandel-exit-party/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "I had notebooks for writing down clues, because even at nine years old, I wanted to work for the Internal Intelligence Service. The Service was a mysterious force, moving dark cars and interrogating people on the street. As a child, I played Ghosts and Agents with my friends, imagining myself as a spy. Later, after high school, I applied successfully to the Service Academy in Los Angeles. My parents visited me in Fillmore, a small town north of LA, and I showed them around the town. One day, while walking through downtown, we witnessed a florist's shop being emptied and its owners led away in two vans. I knew that they had criticized the State on social media, so they were likely sent to a work camp.",
  "summary": "In Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel Exit Party, becoming a “ghost” means running afoul of the state. In this excerpt, a secret agent discovers it doesn’t take much.",
  "key_points": [
    "Child dreamed of joining Internal Intelligence Service",
    "Spied on florist shop closure due to political criticism",
    "Witnessed suspects taken away in two vans"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The author's childhood fascination with the Internal Intelligence Service and its perceived power turns to disillusionment as they witness firsthand the Service's role in suppressing dissent.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}