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Since Theo’s not a perfect traveler, he doesn’t re his journeys quite as clearly as I do So otten the passionate erateful "Nothing much You came to see , and sent us out here"

Theo says, "That was Paul with your parents, right?"

"Yeah"

"Why didn’t you go after him? Rescue that splinter of his soul?"

"Because I have to be in contact with hiain "Close contact It’s not like I can tackle hi room"

Theo frowns "What if that’s what it takes?"

"Of course, if I have to, I will But if I start acting weird before we get into Mo is up" I hook one finger around the two Firebird chains at my neck "Remember, it’s hard for people from another dimension to see our Firebirds, but they can, particularly if they know to look for theot it" Theo hesitates, then says, "I thought--I figured you couldn’t know him yet, in this universe Paul"

"Well, I do know hihtly as I can

My casual attitude doesn’t fool Theo for a ood about this?"

"About what, exactly?"

His eyes are dark, unfathomable "About the fact that there’s at least one world in the rateful for the darkness around us Maybe that keeps hiuys always said In an infinitethat can happen, does happen"

"So this--you and me--ere in the realm of possibility? Not sure how that hts are turned down, for fear of more bombers, because I can see every star above "Probably you never even ree with him and move on Instead, I tell the truth "No, I know him And he--he cares about me I can tell"

"Poor bastard" When I look at hi casual than I airl who doesn’t love you back? It sucks I’d know"

There’s nothing I can possibly say in reply

"I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy So I definitely wouldn’t wish it on Paul" Theo hesitates, thento a new subject "Listen, when I was on base, I tried using the et at the Firebird data No luck Maybe that’s just because I’ure your parents are as security-conscious as ever"

Mom and Dad aren’t the type to use passwords like ABC123 For a while, -in code at honesiuet into a classifiedto eht Theo’s fae "You don’t think you can get through at all?"

"If I had unobserved access to a terh, probably, but in this universe, those are hard to come by I can’t exactly hack into a military computer from a military base I’d be arrested before I even hit Enter"

What are we going to do? We have to co Paul and Theo The computer virus can do the work for us, but only if we can access the systened to destroy

The answer coh h Paul"