I frown. I hadn’t thought about it that way. “Maybe not…”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to give away all of our plans and secrets to him.”

I frown. The annoying thing is, Zora might just be right. “But what choice do we have, Z? He’s the one who can get us into Moncha HQ. Without his help, we might as well succumb to the update.”

There’s a moment’s pause. “Have you ever thought… I mean, would it be so bad?” mumbles Zora.

“What do you mean?” I reply, unable to keep my jaw from dropping as the weight of what she’s saying sinks in. Suddenly, the stairwell seems to grow, the gap between us widening.

Zora sticks her chin out, more defiant now. “I mean it. Maybe things would be easier if someone just made sure we were all happy with our decisions. I mean, look at my family. We’re all related by blood, and yet can we get along? Not at all. Do you know how many times I’ve wished for a way to make the fights with my sisters go away? If I got to keep Linus, keep my friends… What’s wrong with being made to feel happy about everything else?”

“Maybe because you wouldn’t have a choice about it?” I screw my face up into a scowl, crinkling my nose. I can’t think of anything worse than not being able to have a say in my future. Maybe I will make bad decisions.

Maybe I will take some wrong turns.

Maybe I won’t always be happy.

But at least I will know I have had the power to make the decisions along the way.

Zora shrugs. “Who says we even really have a choice now? Do you think if I had a choice, I would’ve chosen to live with three older sisters and my parents in a tiny two-bedroom apartment? No. I would have chosen to be…I don’t know, Tobias’s sister or something, and live in a huge mansion. He seems to have a pretty sweet life. Or how come Carter gets to have all his privilege and I don’t?”

“So you’d rather just have someone else decide for you whether you were happy enough.”

She sighs. “No, I’m not saying that. I’m just wondering if there might be a hint of possibility that there are good intentions behind this ‘Team Happiness.’” She must take note of the horror on my face, because she shuffles up so she’s sitting next to me and nudges my shoulder. “Didn’t they teach you to be open-minded at Profectus?”

“They did, but I could never be open-minded about that. Or at least…not if they did it without asking people first.”