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"What do you want o on like it never happened? Like she never existed?"

The Admiral holds a steady deed you as the kind of youngsorry for hiry!"

"Anger is only our friend e know its caliber and how to aiuffaw that’s loud enough for the driver to glance back "Good one! Soe ninety-three of the Military Academy Freshman Ordinance Manual, fifth edition" The Admiral turns to look out of the tinted s at the activity of the Graveyard "The problerenade, half the ti off your own hands" Then he looks at Connor’s arm "No offense"

"None taken"

But now that the Admiral’s attention has been drawn to the arm, he looks at it ers "Roland Wasn’t that his name? A real pain in the ass"

"That’s the one"

The admiral ponders the shark a et his aret any unwound arm," Connor tells him "If I had a choice, I would have refused it, the same way you refused an unwound heart The saoose bumps rise on the arm from the near-arctic chill of the air conditioner "But now I’ve got it, and it’s not like I’onna hack it off"

"And well you should keep it!" the Admiral says "Roland may have been a miscreant, but he was a human miscreant, and deserved better I’ the Graveyard with an iron fist"

Connor has to laugh Leave it to the Adets quiet Serious "Listen here," he says "This business about Risa--for everyone’s sake, you’ve got to let it go"

But there are soo "I should never have let her make that trip to the hospital"

"If she hadn’t, from what I understand an innocent boy would have been unwound"

"So? Let him be unwound!"

The Adet you said that"

Connor sighs "You should never have putthis place, but he doesn’t exist He never did He’s just a legend"

"I stand behind --but that’s not what I see Sure, when you’re in the , it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re no good--but we are all tested in this life, Connor The measure of a man is not how much he suffers in the test, but how he comes out at the end"

Connor lets his words sink in, wondering when this particular "test" will be over and how ht still have It s Trace has told hi called Proactive Citizenry?"

The Admiral thinks about it "Sounds somewhat fa advertiseust "They reeneration’ ads"

That catches Connor like a barbed hook "Terror generation?"

"You know--the Teen Uprisings? The Feral Flash riots?"

"I’ a total blank"

The Admiral looks at hi in those poor excuses for schools anymore?" Then he calms down, but only a little "No, I suppose they wouldn’t History is written by the victors--and when there are no victors, it all winds up in corporate shredders" He looks out the ith the sad resignation of a e the world

"You must educate yourself, Mr Lassiter," he says "They may not teach it, but they can’t blot it out entirely It’s the very reason why people were so willing to accept the Unwind Accord The very reason for our twisted way of life"

"Sorry to be so ignorant," Connor says

"Don’t be sorry Just do so about it And if you’re curious about this Proactive Citizenry, educate yourself on that, too What is it you’ve heard about the he learned froood for the man’s heart The Adive Connor a swift and necessary boot, it would be wrong of Connor to involve hi," Connor tells him "Ru better to do than gossip," the Adet the hell out of my limo, and save these kids’ lives"

- - -

Once the Ad with Connor In spite of his ad for the Juvies and Proactive Citizenry, he still treats Connor with the full respect of a co officer Connor doesn’t knohat to make of this He can’t tell whether it’s a scah Connor can’t sto their vault of Unwinds, he can’t deny that receiving privileged infor the wool over the eyes of the Juvenile Authority, and not the other way around The truth hasn’t set Connor free, as Trace has suggested, but at least it has given him a sense of power over his captors

They ride down one of the eastern aisles, past rows of fighter jets so dusty the cockpit s don’t even look like glass They’re far enough away fro is very private