Subterranean Grid

I moved along the platform baseboard, slipping into the recessed shadow behind a heavy riveted steel I-beam. Tucked against the cold iron flange lay a folded paper transit map, its edges worn soft from handling. I smoothed the creases flat against the concrete with my glove and traced the intersecting colored lines: express arteries, local spurs, and river crossings beneath the East River. Surface avenues have gridlock, traffic cams, and chokepoints; the subterranean network connects five sectors without ever exposing an operative to street-level surveillance. I committed three alternate transfer junctions to memory. Secondary egress routes mapped.