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"Meaning what, Mother?" asked Nathan

"Meaning he continued the work after I left; he continued altering the genetics of the different strains and fa for that perfect mixture of form and functionality He didn’t toss up his hands and say, ‘Well, Shanti’s gone, better throw in the towel and stick e have’ He innovated He improved And e have here, on this little piece of hardware, is a collection of those innovations" Dr Cale raised her head, and I alht burning in her eyes: bright and cold and unforgiving "Now that we knohat he’s done, we’ll kno to undo it So thank you, Sal Thank you both You’re welco as you like I recorim note, she placed the thumb drive carefully in her lap, turned herself around, and rolled out of the room She didn’t look back once

Nathan put his hand onup beside ht?" he asked

I tried to answer hih, anxious squeal of laughter, like the sort of sound a ratas on my face I raisedfreely from both eyes My narro of calain to answer him, and this time there was no sound at all The drureat rushing roar like water pouring over a cliff, the dark crashed down and tookout repeatedly in the same place: you’re more likely to wake up so at the ceiling of Dr Cale’s lab, lying on the same narrow cot that had served as ht was on, and it was behindthe room into the sort of deep shadow that never happens naturally I sat up, dimly aware that I wasn’t alone

"Hello? Who’s there?" I frowned into the darkness in front ofa really bad day, so I’d appreciate it if you couldweird noises, or turning out to be on the other side of so to shape the future of the huical divides," said Ada bemusedly "Are we supposed to?"

"Oh," I said "Hi, Adaan to hammer Adam was one of Dr Cale’s human-tapeworm hybrids; the first, to hear her explain the situation He was the oldest of us in the world Everything I was experiencing was so he had experienced beforehe was anything but what he was When he’d opened his eyes for the first time, it had been onto a world filled with people who knew his origins, accepted the else

That ine how nice it must have been Dr Cale had created hieneration D syenesis ith a brain-dead boy whose parents had basically sold hi medical bills I didn’t knohat his body’s name had been before Adam took possession So far as I are, he didn’t know either It had never really one, and Dr Cale had never known him She’d raised Adam without any shadows that wore his face to follow hi

"Where’s Tansy?" He took another step towardmore of his features He was skinny and pale, with the sort of face that was practically designed to blend into crowds, just conventionally attractive enough not to stand out, too essentially plain to snag in the h we didn’t look a thing alike, so me that he was my brother: more my brother than Joyce had ever been ether

That feeling had always been there, I realized, but it was getting stronger fro I wasn’t in denial anymore I could accept all the parts of what I was--and that included , confusion and dis iving hi that I ht have been distracted, or hit my head when I fell down and hit the floor "That’s what Moet you out of SymboGen so that you and Nathan could both come home, and we could finally be a fa of the drums didn’t lessen, but it was joined by another, less pleasant sensation:itself into solid ice If Adam was my brother, Tansy was my sister Oh, God Did my sister die to save me?

No Not possible Tansy was too mean to die that way "Tansy was… she was there, yes She’s the reason I got out of SymboGen I don’t think I could have escaped without her" That wasn’t quite true I knew that I wouldn’t have escaped without her Tansy had been the , and it was only her willingness to stay behind that had bought the tiet to the car Without Tansy, I would have been a prisoner, or worse