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“And he cut you off after she died”

It wasn’t a question, and Charles didn’t answer, just sipped at his tea

“So,” Ao do Don’t start ot the money to keep this place”

“You don’t have to do that”

“Sort of do”

“For her,” Charles said

“For her”

The high-speed to Baltimore took less time than the walk to the station had The city itself hadn’t changed at all in the two decades Ah-rises, the sa out until it hit the orderly blocks ofseaweed s shells of old buildings sticking out of the -dead sea monster

As much as the realization bothered him, Amos had to admit it looked like home

He took an autohborhood Even at the street level, the city looked the sahts had been swapped out for a different, boxy design Soed fros and dealers and sex workers were different faces now, but they were all on pretty much the same corners and stoops their predecessors had worked Neeeds growing in all the city’s cracks, but they were the same cracks

He had the cab let him out at a corner coffee stand that was licensed to accept basic

ration cards It was in the exact same location as the last place he’d ever eaten in Baltimore before he left The cart and the franchise brand were different, but the assortment of rolls and muffins looked identical

“Tall cup and a cornthe cart She looked so surprised when his terminal transferred actual money instead of basic ration credits that she almost dropped his food By the tih the network and into UN dollars, with every exchange and transfer tacking on fees, he wound up paying triple for his snack

The muffin tasted like it had been recycled from old, previously eaten corn muffins And the coffee could have passed for a petroleuainst a wall beside the stand and took his ti and thanked the girl She didn’t reply His spaceat him like some sort of alien creature Which, he supposed, he sort of was

He had no idea where to start looking for Erich But he didn’t have to walk far before a teenage girl with machine-quality braids and expensive cotton pants drifted out of a shadowy doorway