On our way out the next morning Eyal and I ran into Sara.

"Where are you to going?" Sara asked.

"Um, nowhere." I stammered. I hadn't expected to share my plans with anyone else. I sounded ridiculous.

Sara glared at me, "Ah, I'll go with you. We can stop for coffee on the way."

I materialized a coffee into my hand and offered it to her.

"Nah, I don't want Starbucks today," she responded without missing a beat.

I pulled it back into inventory and materialized a Peet's coffee.

"We've had all of these; I'm hoping to find something new we can add to our collection."

Sara was in honey badger mode. She would not let go and I knew better than to try any further.

I acquiesced, "OK, let's go."

All three of us rode up in the cab of Little Jefe. Sara held back from her interrogation almost 60 seconds before the drilling began.

"Where are we going and why?"

I told her everything.

Sara shared her opinion, of course. But the substance of her opinion took me totally by surprise. "Maybe we should let O experiment on people."

"What? We've talked about this before. We don't cross that line. It is too dangerous."

"No, you've talked about this before. I just haven't cared to argue with you. But now we might lose one of the best chances we have of cracking this code. I don't understand why we need to stop someone if they volunteer to be changed. At least they have the best people watching over them."

My voice started to rise, "Because they don't know what they are asking for. And when it goes bad, we can't reverse it."

"They are grown-ups. We are not here to baby sit them."

"They don't understand the science. They are like children. You don't understand Sara."

Sara's voice raised now, "Oh, I don't understand?"

She kept silent for a time, but I could tell she was debating something in her head. Then she spoke again with deliberate coldness in her voice. I had never heard that voice from her before. It chilled me.

“Do you know what happened to my father?” She asked.

I shook my head. I knew he had died, but that was it.

"My father had a rare form of cancer. It wasn't life threatening; it could be kept under control with medication. He would have to live with some pain, but others with the same condition had done it for years. Instead, he chose an experimental treatment to cure it."

I knew the answer, but asked anyway, "Did it work?"

"His final days he lived in total agony. So, tell me James, do you think I understand the situation?"

I felt ashamed. "Yeah, I guess you do. But I don't understand. You should be taking my side. Aren't you upset? If they hadn't offered him the procedure, you would have had more years with him. Don't you feel they robbed you and him of that?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She paused and looked out the window.

"I miss him. Of course I miss him. But he made his choice. If I had taken that away from him, I would have robbed him of his freedom. He might have lived longer, but he would have resented me. He would have resented everything and everyone. So no, I don't agree with you. These people have free choice, let them decide."

I heard her, but I still couldn't agree. "Thank you for sharing that story. I don't agree with you, but I won't patronize you again. Still, I plan to go forward with my plan, so if you want us to drop you back off at the Beacon, we can."

"Don't worry, I won't try to stop you. In fact, I'll help you."

My eyebrows shot up. "Why is that?"

"Because we need to get this resolved. I don't want to lose O, but it is even more important that we lose you. I can see how this eats you up inside. So, let’s just get this over with."

We remained quiet for the rest of the drive.

We arrived in a part of New Jersey that perhaps, at one time, looked like your average American street. Not now. We had to park Little Jefe several blocks from O's brother's place after running into one too many "metal art installations." A recent trend post the big change. Metal parts from cars to household appliances were slagged together into pillars and walls of abstract art. This was the new form of tagging a wall with spray paint. I had to admit it was cool. Unfortunately, it didn't agree with Little Jefe.

Eyal put on his armor and required us to do the same. Ours were matte black rather than shining silver. Where theirs served to draw everyone's attention, non-combatants had no interest in being noticed.

When we arrived at the door of O's brother, Jacques, we found it open. Eyal put his hand up to hold us back and entered first. He returned almost immediately and motioned with his typical ultra-subtle head nudge towards the door to the bedroom.

We entered to find a man who looked remarkably like O, but much younger, snoring on the couch. He stirred, turned over, and began snoring again. That is when I saw his face. Scars covered the side that showed now. Not the kind of scar you get from a cut. These scars looked like acid had dissolved the skin away. I winced just looking at it.

Sara took charge. She materialized a pitcher of water and poured it on the man. He shot up into a sitting position and gasped as though breaking the surface of a pool desperate for air.

Jacques looked around in a confused daze. Then he saw Eyal in his armor and froze, "I didn’t do it."

Oh boy, this guy was going to be a real treat.

Sara snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Hey, are you Jacques?"

The man turned to look at Sara, "Yeah."

"What happened to your face?" Sara asked. I gasped at the impropriety of the question.

Jacques didn't seem to mind, "Reaction to an immunization."

Sara remained quiet for some time. Jacques didn't seem to mind.

"Do you know where your brother is?" Sara asked.

"No. I haven't talked to him in years."

"Why's that? You two fighting?" Sara continued.

"Not fighting. Just not talking." Jacques seemed wistful.

I messaged Sara through chat.

"Sara, what are you doing?"

"Shh."

“Why not? What did he do to you?” she continued unabashed.

He pointed at his face.

Sara asked, "He did that to you?"

He nodded, "By accident. Listen, I am tired, why don’t you come back later." He wasn't going to say anything else. He made to get comfortable on the couch again.

Sara materialized a second pitcher of water.

"Hey lady, what do you want? There were some bad things ripping their way through our town and he was the doc. It was just bad luck. I had a reaction.”

Sara pressed, “If it was an accident, why aren’t you talking to him anymore?”

He waved her away. She threw the water on him and materialized a third pitcher.

“Hey! Stop it! Look, we came to the US to try to get help, but no luck. I quit looking. O refused to stop. It got old. I just don’t talk to him anymore. It ain’t a big deal."

Sara vanished the water. "Do you think he's trying to find a way to make you better?"

He shrugged, "Maybe. Probably. Why don't you ask him?"

Sara sat down next to Jacques, materialized a towel, and handed it to him. She smiled and turned on her charm. "Jacques, we are from the Beacon. Do you know the Beacon?”

Jacques laughed, "Of course I know it, everyone knows it."

Sara stood up and clapped her hands together, “Great! Let’s go then!”

Jacques raised on eyebrow, “You want me to come with you to the Beacon?”

“Yup.”

He lit up, and then suspicion fell over his face, “Why?”

"We’ve developed a new approach that might cure your condition.” Sara said.

My mouth dropped, “Sara, what are you doing?”

Jacques looked over at me and then to Sara and then smiled, “Let me guess, O?”

Sara smiled, “You got it!”

Jacques’ expression turned into a devious smile. “Tell you what, I’ll come chat with my brother. In return, I get to move into the Beacon.”

I went to protest, but Sara cut me off, “Done!”

She looked around his place, “Do you… need to pack anything up?”

Jacques shook his head, “This stuff is all crap. The building owners can keep it. Let’s go!”

Sara shook her head, "Not so fast.”

Jacques looked concerned.

Sara continued, “First, where can we get a killer cup of coffee around here?"