The shirt, oddly, had a mask sewn into the inside, just below the collar. It covered his face from the nose down and hooked behind the ears.

He tucked it back inside. Maybe all their shirts had those attached. Not a bad idea.

He finger-combed his hair and leaned forward to examine his face in the mirror. Could be worse. He’d expected worse, actually. He had a bruise on one cheekbone, but otherwise his face was the same as always. He ran his hand over the stubble across his jaw. He’d been clean-shaven every day for weeks on the campaign trail.

Maisie and Beto were gone when he walked back out into the lab, but Dr. Lopez sat at his desk.

Lennon gestured to the dirty clothes he held in his arm. “I didn’t know what to do with these.”

“Just put them in there,” the doctor said, pointing to a basket in the corner. “You won’t get those back, though.”

“I am totally fine with that.” He dropped the clothes in the basket, watching as the bright blue tie disappeared beneath his grimy white shirt. His dad had picked out that tie. He’d say “Nice tie” to Lennon every time he wore it, and then chuckle. It was annoying, and sort of endearing.

He considered grabbing the tie and stuffing it in his pocket. But he’d never actually liked it that much. He only wore it on the campaign trail.

He turned and walked back to Dr. Lopez, who was getting up from his desk. “I’ve been wondering…”

Dr. Lopez looked at him expectantly.

Lennon took a breath, wondering if he was making a mistake by bringing this up. But it seemed wrong not to.

“There are rumors that you guys have some access to American news in here?”

“No.”

“I mean, a select few of you have access to news, when you want it.” He didn’t expect a reply to that, and didn’t get one. He didn’t think Dr. Lopez was going to cop to the quarantine zone’s draconian media laws. “I’m just wondering if you understand what people are saying about the quarantine zone out there. If you’re aware of…certain solutions that have been proposed for dealing with the zone.”

Lennon couldn’t actually bring himself to say, Are you aware that a significant portion of the population wants to blow you all up?

“I am aware that there are plenty of people out there who would prefer that the Q be gone entirely. They’ve been advocating for that for years.”

“But do you understand that the idea has become more mainstream lately? And that my being dropped in here has probably caused a significant uproar with that group now?”

Dr. Lopez nodded once, curtly. “I understand. It’s one of the reasons I think it’s best that we get you out of here as soon as possible.”

“Right. Yes.” He blew out a breath, relieved. “Maybe you could let me communicate with some outside journalists? And let them record the call? It could really help if people knew that I was okay in—”