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"They werepreliminary," Sykes said

"Preliminary to what?"

He paused "To Amy"

Fortes explained the situation: Amy was in a coh and had gone on too long Her kidney and liver values were depressed

"We were hoping you could talk to her," Sykes said "This soed state of unconsciousness Doyle tells us that she’s prettybonded with you"

A two-stage air lock connected them to Amy’s rooe biosuit was hanging on the wall, the empty helmet tipped forward, like a man with a broken neck Sykes explained hoorked

"You’ll need to put this on, then wrap all seams with duct tape The valves at the base of the hel They’re color-coded, so that should be obvious When you coh, you need to shower in the suit, then shower again without it There are instructions on the wall"

Wolgast sat on the bench to remove his slippers Then he stopped

"No," he said

Sykes looked at hi it" He turned and faced Sykes squarely "It’s not going to help if she wakes up and sees o as I aent," Sykes warned

His lanced at Fortes, who shrugged "It could beinteresting In theory, the virus should be inert by now On the other hand, it uess you’ll find out," Sykes said "Let hient, once you’re in, you’re in I can’t guarantee anything beyond that Is that clear?"

Wolgast said it was; Sykes and Fortes stepped froast realized he hadn’t expected theast called back to theed another private look "Wait here," Sykes said

He returned a few minutes later with Aast had never really looked at it, not closely Three of theh canvas of the pack, fists raised and flying Wolgast unzipped it; so, such as her hairbrush, but Peter was still inside

He fixed his gaze on Fortes "Hoill I know if it’s notinert?"

"Oh, you’ll know," Fortes said

They sealed the door behind hiast felt the pressure drop Above the second door, the light switched froast turned the handle and stepped inside

A second rooer than the first, with a fat drain in the floor and a sunflower-head shower, activated by a ht in here was different; it had a bluish cast, like autun on the wall bore the instructions Sykes had indicated: a long list of steps that ended in nadness, standing above the drain, rinsing theA ca

He paused at the second door The light above it was red A keypad was affixed to the wall Hoould he go through? Then the light switched froreen, as the first had done-Sykes, fro the door It looked heavy,on a submarine He couldn’t say exactly why he’d insisted on not wearing the biosuit, a decision that now seemed rash For Amy, as he’d said? Or to tease out soer, froht to him

He turned the handle, felt his ears pop as the pressure dropped again He drew in a lungful of air, holding it in his chest, and stepped through

Grey had no idea as happening Days and days of this: he’d report for his shift, ride the elevator down to L4-nothing had happened after that first night; Davis had covered for hi the halls and bathrooms, then step into Containment, and step out six hours later

All perfectly normal, except that those six hours were a blank, like an es he was supposed to, filed his reports and backed up the drives, ed a feords with Pujol or the other techs who came in And yet he couldn’t remember any of it He’d slide his card to enter the observation roo he knew his shift was over and he was co things, sht somehow, little bits of recorded data that seeht like confetti as they fluttered down through hisas clear and straightforward as that, and nothing he could hold on to But he’d be sitting in the co the yard to the Chalet, and a taste would bubble fro in his teeth Sometimes it struck him so hard it actually made him freeze in his tracks And when this happened, he’d think of funny things, unrelated, a lot of which had to do with Brownbear Like the taste in hisabout his old dog, who, truth be told, he hadn’t really thought about much at all until recently, not for years and years, until that night he’d had that dream in Containment and tossed all over the floor

Brownbear and his reeking breath Brownbear dragging so dead, a possuot into a nest of bunnies under the trailer, tiny little balls of peach-colored skin, not even covered with fur yet, and crunched the between hisin the : he couldn’t say for sure Brownbear had actually done that

He wondered if he was sick The sign over the sentry station on L3 made him nervous, in a way it hadn’t before It seeht to hi from breakfast, he’d felt a tickle in this throat, likea cold; before he knew it he’d sneezed hard into his hand His nose had been running a little ever since Then again, it was spring now, still cold at night but rising into the fifties or even sixties during the afternoon, and all the trees were budding out, a faint haze of green, like a spatter of paint over the ic

And then there was the quiet It took Grey a while to notice what this was Nobody was saying anything-not just the sweeps, who never spoke in with, but the techs and soldiers and doctors, too It wasn’t like it happened all at once, in a day or even a week But slowly, over ti down on it like a lid Grey had always been more of a listener himself-that’s what Wilder, the prison shrink, had said about hiood listener, Grey" He’d meant it as a compliment, but mostly Wilder was just in love with the sound of his own voice and happy to have an audience Still, Grey ht in the commissary he counted thirtya word So in their chairs,into space Like they were half asleep

One thing: Grey was fine in the shut-eye department He slept and slept and slept, and when his alarm went off at 05:00, or noon if, as likely as not, he’d been on the late shift, he’d roll over in bed, light a shtstand, and stay still for a fewto decide if he’d drea he sat down at a table in the commissary to eat-French toast staes, and a bowl of grits on the side; if he was sick it sure hadn’t killed his appetite any-and when he lifted his face to take his first bite, a dripping slab of toast just inches froht across froht of him once or twice since their conversation, but not up close, not like this Paulson was sitting over a plate of eggs he hadn’t touched He looked like shit, his skin stretched so tight over his face you could see the edges of his bones For an instant, just one, their eyes met