“And Brando corrupted her mind with false information he found in the months after Mitso’s accident. Mireille would rage against Hëró, rage against Nítuchí, rage against me. It became so disruptive that I told her that we would get Brando a new job somewhere else and move him away so she could rest. I hoped that with Brando gone, the smallest part of her would feel relieved, and she would feel free to be herself again. But instead she turned even worse. She became so angry.” He shudders. He actually shudders. “She told me I was a heartless Hero Pharm pawn. Just another ruthless, greedy corporate pig like the rest of them. It was ridiculous. She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks.”

Tai looks legitimately sad for him from her perch. I am in awe of her ability to show false empathy for someone to goad them on. I try to sweep any emotion at all from my face as she speaks. “So what happened then, Teddy?” Her voice is breathy, Marilyn Monroe–ish.

Teddy actually smiles at her through his sadness.

“So fast-forward to May. I’ve been working on a project that I think will make her happy and remind her that I’m different. I see her. I come over here one night, since she refuses to meet me, and I tell her about the updated operating system in the Pocket Girlfriends, and the seed of the Carer idea—and how I hoped to incorporate her answers into the operating systems, so that she could indirectly care for millions one day. I thought she would be delighted. I thought the Carer was the best kind of legacy to have, especially for someone who cares deeply about humanity. But—she lost it. She had a complete meltdown. I’d never seen her like that.”

“And then what?” Tai says, in a flat garble, as we sit there, unable to inhale.

Mina’s beeping is louder than before, in the hall outside, but Teddy is full-on crying now, heaving, and he doesn’t notice. “We were in the house. In the kitchen. You girls were asleep upstairs. So was Hëró. And she came at me with her fists first. Screaming that I wanted to capture her, that I wanted to have her, when she was a person, deserving of respect. I only put my hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t wake you up. She was being so loud. But she was so strong, and she hit me then, and I was just a kid, and I pushed her away from me, and she—” His voice cuts out.

“She what.”