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Burning Bridges
They stayed up late into the night, talking with Az and Maddy about their discoveries, their escape into the wild, and the founding of the Smoke Finally, Tally had to ask the question that had been on her mind since she’d first seen thee yourselves back? I ly?" Az smiled "That part was simple We’re experts in the physical part of the operation When surgeons sculpt a pretty face, we use a special kind of se new pretties to er chemical to that plastic, and it becoining her face suddenly softening so she could squish it around to a different shape
"With daily doses of this trigger cheradually oes back to where it started More or less"
Tally’s eyebrows rose "More or less?"
"We can only approximate the places where bone was shaved away And we can’t ery Maddy and I have all the non-cosmetic benefits of the operation: impervious teeth, perfect vision, disease resistance But we look pretty close to the ould have without the operation As far as the fat that was sucked out" - he patted his stomach - "that proves very easy to replace"
"Butwhy ? Why would you want to be ugly? You were doctors, so there was nothing wrong with your brains, right?"
"Our minds are fine," Maddy answered "But anted to start a community of people who didn’t have the lesions, people ere free of pretty thinking It was the only way to see what difference the lesions reallypeople, recruited from the cities"
Tally nodded "So you had to becoly too Otherwise, who’d trust you?"
"We refined the trigger chemical, created a once-a-day pill Over a few months, our old faces came back" Maddy looked at her husband with a twinkle in her eye "It was a fascinating process, actually"
"It must have been," Tally said "What about the lesions? Can you create a pill that cures them?"
They were both silent for a moment, then Maddy shook her head "We didn’t find any answers before Special Circumstances showed up Az and I are not brain specialists We’ve worked on the question for twenty years without success But here in the Sly makes"
"I’ve seen thatof the differences between Peris and David
Az raised an eyebrow "You catch on pretty fast, then"
"But we know there’s a cure," David said
"How?"
"There has to be," Maddy said "Our data showed that everyone has the lesions after their first operation So when so line of work, the authorities somehow cure them
The lesions are removed secretly, maybe even fixed with a pill like the bone plastic, and the brain returns to normal There must be a simple cure"
"You’ll find it one day," David said quietly
"We don’t have the right equip "We don’t even have a pretty hu on," Tally said "You used to live in a city full of pretties When you became doctors, your lesions went away Didn’t you notice that you were changing?"
Maddy shrugged "Of course we did We were learning how the hue responsibility of saving lives But it didn’t feel as if our brains were changing It felt like growing up"
"Oh But when you looked around at everyone else, how coed?"
Az smiled "We didn’t have ues who seeed But that was hardly a surprise History would indicate that the majority of people have always been sheep Before the operation, there ars andWhatever these lesions make us, it isn’t a far cry from the way humanity was in the Rusty era These days we’re just a biteasier tothe lesions is normal now," Maddy said "We’re all used to the effects"
Tally took a deep breath, re Sol and Ellie’s visit Her parents had been so sure of themselves, and yet in a way so clueless But they’dalways seemed that ise and confident, and at the saly, real-life problee? Tally had always thought that was just how parents weresupposed to be
For that matter, shallow and self-centered was how brand-new pretties were supposed to be As an ugly Peris had made fun of them - but he hadn’t waited a moment to join in the fun No one ever did So how could you tell howalong with the way things had always been?
Only bya whole neorld, which is just what Maddy and Az had begun to do
Tally wondered which had co pretty just the bait to get everyone under the knife? Or were the lesions ical conclusion of everyone looking the sa the same
She leaned back in her chair Her eyes were blurry, and her stoht about Peris, her parents, and every other pretty she’d ever met How different were they? she wondered
How did it feel to be pretty? What was it really like behind those big eyes and exquisite features?
"You look tired," David said
She laughed softly It seemed like weeks since she and David had arrived there A few hours of conversation had changed her world "Maybe a little"
"I guess we’d better go, Mom"
"Of course, David It’s late, and Tally has a lot to digest"
Maddy and Az stood, and David helped Tally up fro inside when she recognized the expression in their old and ugly faces: They feltsorry for her Sad that she’d had to learn the truth, sad that they’d been the ones to tell her After twenty years, otten used to the idea, but they still understood that it was a horrible fact to learn
Ninety-nine percent of hu done to their brains, and only a few people in the world knew exactly what
"You see why I wanted you to uess I do"
Tally and David were in the darkness, clie back toward the Smoke, the sky full of stars now that the one back to the city not knowing"
Tally shivered, realizing how close she had come so many times In the library, she’d actually opened the pendant, al it to her eye And if she had, the Specials would have arrived within hours
"I couldn’t stand that," David said
"But soet bored with ca out, and we can’t o? When they don’t even knohat the operation really means?"
David stopped and took hold of Tally’s shoulder, anguish on his face "Neither do we And what if we told everyone e suspect? Most of the back to the city to rescue their friends And eventually, the cities would find out ere saying, and would do everything in their power to hunt us down"
They already are,Tally said to herself She wondered howfor the S it She wanted to tell David what they were up to, but how? She couldn’t explain that she had coain
She sighed That would be the perfect way to stop herself fro between him and Shay
"You don’t look very happy"
Tally tried to sest secret with her; she should tell hih to say the words "It’s been a long night That’s all"
He smiled back "Don’t worry, it won’t last forever"
Tally wondered how long it was until dawn In a few hours she’d be eating breakfast alongside Shay and Croy, and everyone else she had almost betrayed, alht
"Hey," David said, lifting her chin with his palht I think my parents were impressed"
"Huh? With me?"
"Of course, Tally You understood immediately what this all means Most people can’t believe it at first
They say the authorities would never be so cruel"
She srimly "Don’t worry, I believe it"
"Exactly I’ve seen a lot of city kids coh here You’re different from the rest of therow up spoiled That’s why I had to tell you That’s why"
Tally looked into his eyes and saw that his face was glowing again - touching her in that pretty way she’d felt before
"That’s why you’re beautiful, Tally"
The wordsof looking into a new pretty’s eyes
"Me?"
"Yes"
She laughed, shaking her head clear "What, with ether?"
"Tally"
"And my frizzy hair and squashed-down nose?"
"Don’t say that" His fingers brushed her cheeks where the scratches were ally across her lips She kne callused his fingertips were, as hard and rough as wood But somehow their caress felt soft and tentative
"That’s the worst thing they do to you, to any of you Whatever those brain lesions are all about, the worst dae is done before they even pick up the knife: You’re all brainwashed into believing you’re ugly"
"We are Everyone is"
"So you think I’ly?"
She looked away "It’s a pointless question It’s not about individuals"
"Yes it is, Tally Absolutely"
"I ically, there’re certain things we all - " The words choked off "You really think I’m beautiful?"
"Yes"
"More beautiful than Shay?"