“Jesus,” George said. “A few days ago these teeth were damn near ready to fall out; so bad in fact I figured the kindest thing to do for Greg here was to let them do just that.” He shook his head, and looked at Gregory. “What happened?” he asked. “I’ve never in my entire career seen anything like this. Once started, the tissue just gets more diseased, and in the condition you were in, the thing was way past any reversing. It just doesn’t happen.”

“So you told me,” Gregory said with relish.

Oversoul Seven let his consciousness dip toward George’s and found himself astounded at George’s inner reaction. It was as if Gregory’s healed gums had set off a series of psychological quakes in George’s mind. He believed what he saw in Gregory’s mouth and yet he couldn’t; he kept looking for ways of dismissing the evidence obviously before him. His stubborn denial completely baffled Seven.

And Gregory, after laughing out loud triumphantly, now found himself feeling sorry for the dentist.

“What happened?” George demanded again. He was red-faced.

“You probably won’t believe me,” Gregory began.

“After this, I’ll believe anything,” George muttered.

Now when it actually came time to tell his story, Gregory found himself embarrassed. Only his determination to help the custodian kept him from running from the room. “I don’t really know,” he started. “My gums hurt like hell. I got two new gum boils from when I saw you. Then yesterday morning, I met this custodian in the entertainment room. He was sweeping up and we talked….” Gregory gulped, and looked directly into George’s eyes. His voice went high and scared and wavery. “This guy looked at me or did something, and suddenly I felt my teeth tighten in my head. I mean I felt them tighten. I got hot all over and saw lights….” He broke off, his telling of the story finally making him aware of its impact; of its impossibility—and of its definite truth. Briefly he lifted his head and cried, “It’s that guy I told you about, the one who thinks he’s Christ. He did it, I mean, he really did.”

Oversoul Seven tried to look impressed, but he kept his mouth shut so he wouldn’t say the wrong thing. A body and a polyester suit didn’t necessarily make you human, he thought, rather confused. And it certainly didn’t make some human views any easier to understand. He wanted to shout, “Miracles, as you call them, happen all the time. That’s nature unimpeded,” but he said nothing of the sort. Instead he tried to understand why George and Gregory Diggs both seemed so shocked, and why Gregory was almost near tears.