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"And if we don’t co the same kind of disobedience he condeht of reporting this, we’ve uploaded a nice identity cocktail for the two of you onto the net"

That makes them both look even more ill than they already do

"What kind of cocktail?"

Hayden’s the one who answers, proud because it was his idea

"We send out a single code over the net, and bingo, your naital footprint will be so tangled in terroriset Homeland Security off your collective asses"

The couple nod a solemn acceptance

"Fine," the man says "You have our word"

The threat of identity cocktails is always very effective--and besides, whether these kids go with Connor or they’re unwound, the parents get what they want Their un Connor and his teaain

"You have to understand, ere desperate," says the hteousness "Everyone told us that unwinding was the best thing to do Everyone"

Connor tears up the list of excuses and drops it on the floor, locking eyes with her

"So, in other words you decided to unwind your son because of peer pressure?"

Finally the two of theht of shame The father, who had started out so defiant, suddenly bursts into tears It’s the h to offer Connor one last excuse

"We tried to be good parentsbut there’s a point at which you give up trying"

"No, there’s not," Connor tells her Then he turns to go, leaving the to live with themselves

Connor and his team drive off in an intentionally nondescript minivan with a false license plate Noah Falkowski is understandably grio by for the last time He doesn’t seelad Noah doesn’t recognize hiendary reputation in some circles, his face was in the newshe’s dead, it’s easier to go incognito

"Relax," Connor tells hiot no friends," says Noah And for now, Connor lets him feel sorry for himself

- - -

The Graveyard is true to its naht Airplane tail fins stand as monumental and as quiet as tombstones Kids are on watch patrol with tranq-loaded rifles, but other than that, there’s no sign that the place is home to more than seven hundred AWOL Unwinds

"So why are we here?" Noah asks as the rescue party pulls down the main aisle--the busiest "street" of the Graveyard, flanked by a series of large aircraft thatspace, each one na since left Nairls’ dorms; the ComBom, a veteran World War II bomber that’s become their computer and communications center; and of course IHOP, the International House of Purgatory, where new arrivals like Noah stay until they’re given a job and integrated into the Graveyard

"The Graveyard’s where you’ll live until you turn seventeen," Connor tells Noah

"Like hell I will," the kid says Typical Connor just ignores hiet him a bedroll and escort him to IHOP We’ll see what kind of work he’s suited for in theAWOL now?" asks Noah

"AWOLs is what they call us," says Hayden "We call ourselves Whollies As to whether or not you stink, I think we all can agree that you need to visit our bathing facilities at your earliest possible convenience"

The kid grunts like a rins It was Hayden who actually came up with the terative labels put on them by the world "You should be a spin doctor," Connor told Hayden, to which he facetiously replied, "Spinning makes me nauseous; I’d puke on my patients"

Hayden, Connor, and Risa were the only three Whollies re who had been harbored in Sonia’s safe house way back when That experience bonded the friends

Noah toddles off with Hayden to the International House of Purgatory, and Connor takes a few moments to enjoy some rare peace and quiet He looks to AcMac, the jet where Risa sleeps The lights are out, just like the others, but he suspects she has already peered out at the sound of their approach, to make sure that Connor has arrived home safe and sound