‘The fourth resolution was classified.’

‘Classified?’

‘Yes. Classified. Secret.’

‘So nobody knows what it is?’

‘That is why I said it was classified, Albert,’ said Father patiently. ‘It was passed in advance, the contents revealed later to the Board members by the Chairman after the voting was done and tabled.’

He cleared his throat and went on. ‘Now, when the Epidemic first struck, the tragedy hit especially close to home for Robert. His daughter, Celia, was one of the first to be affected. For the days and weeks that followed, he and his wife did everything, tried everything they could, but it was no use—Celia was an addict, and would remain that way till the day she died. A couple of months after the Epidemic started, she vanished—ran away like millions of other young people, out on the streets with no thought but the next fix. Nobody saw her for years afterwards, until I was finally able to track her down, just after Theo was born, and bring the three of them here.’

‘Three? You mean Robert?’

‘No. I mean Theo’s father.’

‘Her father? Who—where is he?’

‘He is gone,’ said Father coldly. ‘And good riddance too. He was as consummate a rogue and scoundrel as I ever knew, and he caused us no end of trouble from the day he got here. It was a good day for Sanctuary when he ran away. As for Robert, the tragedy with his daughter was not the sum total of his grief. His marriage had been in poor shape for some time, as I mentioned, and this completely disintegrated it. His wife blamed him for what had happened, and I could tell when I saw him, just a day after it had all begun, that so did he. He looked dazed, like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders who does not believe that it is there, or even knows why. All he would do is shake his head and say, “I tested it myself—it couldn’t go wrong, it couldn’t.” I didn’t see him for days on end. Nobody did. When I finally found him, he was different—all fire and determination, vowing that he would fix things. I could tell by the look on his face that he meant it.’

‘Did he end up in the City, too?’

Father nodded. ‘Eventually, although it was a convoluted process. To begin with, he was one of the most vociferous protestors against the resolutions of the Board, when they became public. By public, of course, I mean to the beneficiaries; nobody else was privy to any information.’

‘But how could they hide everything?’

‘Because they were the Company. But mostly because information itself wasn’t in high demand, at least among the non-affected.’

‘But why wouldn’t people want to know—’