“Because it means they’re not who we thought they were,” said Kira. “They’re not what we thought they were. I’ve been out here for two months trying to find the Trust because I thought they had it all together—a group of geniuses or whatever with a plan for exactly how everything was supposed to work. Cures for RM, details on expiration, answers to how I fit in, everything. But now that we’re finally learning about them, they’re just . . .” She sighed, understanding, finally. “If everything Heron is saying about Morgan is true, then they’re just as fragmented as everybody else. They kept secrets from each other; they messed with each other’s work. I was relying on them for answers, but I’m starting to think they might not have them, either.”

“And if they don’t have them,” said Heron, “nobody does.”

Samm paused, lost in thought. Kira thought about the problem from different angles, going through everything she knew about the Trust. Each member of the Trust would still have certain answers to her questions, right? She could still find them, like Nandita had told her to, and she could still learn something. If there wasn’t a plan in place, she could make one. The pieces were all here. And perhaps there was a member of the Trust out there who did know it all, who oversaw the project, who could tell her how these pieces fit together. How she fit together.

She had to believe.

Samm broke the silence. “What about the scientists who worked with you directly?” he asked. “Your father, and Nandita: What were their contributions?”

“My father did the pheromone system,” said Kira, “which I suppose makes sense—I don’t have the full link, but I have a version of it. He may have built it custom.”

“Which parts of it do you have?” asked Heron.

“I have no idea,” said Kira. “I knew you were waiting for me on the stairs, and you knew I was waiting for you, but right now I can’t sense either of you at all.”

Heron raised an eyebrow, a motion half-mocking, half-curious. “We knew you were on the stairs because you’re about as stealthy as a moose. There was no link data coming from you at all—and there isn’t any now.”

“But I felt you,” said Kira. “I knew exactly where both of you were.”

“Interesting,” said Heron.

Kira turned to Samm. “What about you?” She thought about the connection she’d felt with him in the lab, and suddenly grew anxious. “Do you feel anything?” She felt stupid for asking, like a schoolgirl, and couldn’t bring herself to ask the second part of the question: Did you feel anything?

Samm shook his head. “Nothing . . . right now.”

“And before?” Heron asked.

“I . . . can’t be sure.”

What’s that look in his eyes? thought Kira. Why are these stupid Partials so hard to read?