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"You were never afraid of the h," said Dr Cale There was a brief war what it was like to be the woman she’d been when she was just Nathan’sfroht looped around itself so ed to confuse evento clear it, and looked down at the blue and black cover one last ti how the story ended didn’t make the children seem any less terrified, orwhat the book was actually aboutfor the broken door By finding it, they would get their answers… and they would give up their humanity forever
"No," said Nathan His tone was ain to find hirave expression on his face His sone "I knew the monster in my closet would take care of me The monster would always love me, no matter what I did The monster would never leavethis I shrank back inout of her "Nathan…" she began
Nathan talked right over her, asking, "Did you have any contact with Dad after you left us? Did he tell you about the ti to find the broken doors? I knew my monster would be on the other side, and she would loveto realize where ere "We’re pretty et Sal home Her parents will be worried about her by now, and I’m supposed to work a late shift at the hospital We’re slaet worse as the implants continue to assert theether on this, Nathan You can’t just walk away and pretend you don’t knohat’s going on"
"I’ to stay here This isn’t the side of the broken doors that I belong on Once it was,for you behind every corner But not now I live in the real world now" Nathan walked over to where I sat, offering ed o"
"Thank you for sharing what you know, Dr Cale," I said, hugging the book toit I was, in a way; Nathan wanted to take it with us, and I didn’t trust Dr Cale not to try snatching it away froave her the chance
She didn’t move to take the book She didn’t move at all She just looked at the two of us, an odd sort of sorrow in her eyes, and said, "When Siot that published, ave to anyone She said it would help me teach my children how to be safe You were a baby at the time, Nathan You probably don’t even re his arm around my shoulders "I don’t"
"She was a little woman Always sick, all the ti, parents thought you had to keep the world so clean it was sterile if you wanted to protect your children Her i it didn’t recognize She died before you were old enough to get to know her, but I think you would have liked her" Dr Cale looked toward the charts on the wall, showing the developenesis "You alanted to knohen you were a little boy Why this and why that, and hy until I thought your father was going to lose hismyself for years why this was the project I had to join Why was this the one thing I had to do, out of everything that I could have done, out of every opportunity I had"
"Did you figure it out?" I asked
"Yes" Dr Cale turned to ht have died anyway--no one can predict the future, or we’d find ourselves in a lot less hot water--but she wouldn’t have died the way she did, of an ier I did it because I wanted to give you and your loved ones a better future, Nathan And yes, I did it because I could Isn’t that the justification used by every scientist whowonderful, only to discover that they’veterrible? ‘We did it for science’ "
"Science doesn’t always play nicely with the other children," said Nathan
Dr Cale sighed "So true Co--and for God’s sake, be careful out there I still don’t kno D sy all this outside of lab conditions, and I won’t know until I’ve hadwhat could happen"
"Okay, Mo over to hug his esture with all the fervency of soain After a few seconds of that, Nathan melted into her eh that I started to get unco the rooraphs on the walls, there was a corkboard with a few tacked-up photographs, including a grainy shot of Nathan that had clearly been taken with a distance lens There was one picture of Adaether, she with a shaved skull and a bandage taped to the side of her head, he with the doting smile of an older brother