Marie tried to find things to distract herself from feeling too nervous about the upcoming news conference at the end of next week. She didn’t exactly know what was going on with the government, but the fact that an angry mob hadn’t destroyed the skyscraper had to be promising. They didn’t call themselves the S.E.A. anymore, since no one was enforcing the public to sing.

Tensions in the streets were still high. Protest groups marched down the streets right outside the houses of the Officials. The ones now occupied by math and scientists. Fear and hate was a difficult thing to dissipate from people’s minds. But there were positive things happening, too. Companies opened their arms to scientists and mathematicians. More job opportunities for those with a scientific mind were created and filled. Marie even remembered a story from the Grand Theatre. Their one accountant asked for more help, and the next day they hired an entire team. There was also the story told of when toward the end of President Arnold’s power, he disbanded all forensic science teams on the police force, claiming they didn’t need those kinds of people to help with police work. They were among the first to be rehired once President Arnold was arrested.

Marie had the feeling her dad wanted to go to the clearing to explore it, but Marie had to stay in Musical Land. Abe was right. She was becoming the face of “good scientists.” She was starting to resent that name. Eventually scientists should just be assumed as good without needing the extra label, but there was a lot of work to be done before that happened.

Marie was eating lunch when Sophie walked in and sat down next to her, looking as though she’d seen a ghost. Marie swallowed what she was chewing. “Hi? You okay?”

Sophie studied Marie before clearing her throat and lifting her hand to show an opened envelope and a letter. “So, um, I got this letter from my parents.”

Marie’s eyes widened. “And?”

Sophie looked at the letter, her hand shaking. “Apparently the prisons have this… this thing once a week where families can come to visit. They’ve made arrangements that both of them could be there at the same time. They want to see me. They understand if I don’t, but they wanted to be the ones to initiate. In case I wanted to see them too.”

Marie pushed her plate of lunch away. “And?”

“I don’t know if I do. I kind of do. But… not alone. Are you doing anything next Tuesday?” She glanced at the letter. “At five?”

“I’d be happy to come. I’m sure my dad could take us too,” Marie said.

Sophie nodded, the worry etched into her forehead. “Yeah. Yeah, bring your dad. That’d be good too.”

Marie placed her head on Sophie’s shoulder. “Hey, I know what they did in the past was awful. I know it’s terrifying. But they are changing. They do love you, and I think they’re finally realizing that the way they were showing their love was, um-”

Sophie snorted. “Abusive?”

Marie smiled. “We can stay as long as you want, but I think it’s good that you’re going. You can feel it out. See their sincerity. You’re really brave, you know.”

Sophie gave a sigh, then played with her pixie cut. “It doesn’t feel very brave.”

“Stop it. This is brave.”

“Just don’t leave my side,” Sophie said.

“With you forever,” Marie said.

***

Albert put on his shirt, tugging it over his casted arm. His parents were behind him, getting things organized and putting clothes away in suitcases. They had gotten the okay to leave. Finally! Albert was going to be able to sleep in his own bed tonight.

There was a knock on the door, and Albert wondered if there was more information the medical professionals wanted to deliver.

“Come in,” Albert said.

Abe walked in, and if Albert didn’t know better, he thought Abe looked nauseous.

“Abe, hey.” Albert tenderly got off the bed and grabbed his crutch. “It’s so good to see you! Marie said you were okay, but it’s good to see with my own two eyes.”

Abe swallowed. “Yeah. Yeah, you too.” Abe didn’t believe what he said. Something was troubling him.

Mrs. Einstein pushed a wheelchair toward Albert. “Is your friend coming with us, Albert?”

“He’s certainly invited. We’re going out to eat as a celebration for leaving the hospital. You can come if you want,” Albert said.

“No, no, it’s fine. I actually…” Abe glanced at Mrs. Einstein before looking back at Albert. “I wanted to talk to you for a second if I could. Alone.”

Albert noticed the signs. Abe was on the brink of tears. Another few minutes and he’d be crying. “Yeah. Of course. Mom, dad, Charles should be down there with his car. Do you want to load things up?” Mrs. Einstein paused, suspicious of Abe. “Come on, mom. We’re not going to go off on a secret adventure.”

“You’re right. Not without my permission,” Mrs. Einstein said, a small smile on her face.

Mr. Einstein grabbed a suitcase and took Mrs. Einstein’s hand. “We’ll be waiting for you in the lobby, son.”

Abe stared ahead, not acknowledging Albert’s parents as they left. The door closed and Albert tried to smile. “What’s going on? Can I help with anything?”

Abe looked at Albert, the tears instantly filling his eyes. “It was me. I’m sorry. It was me.”

Albert hated feeling confused. Clearly Abe was carrying this burden for a while. “What? What happened?”

Abe closed his eyes as tears spilled down his cheeks. “I turned you in. I remember everything now. I was wandering the forest for a week. Dehydrated, close to dying, it was bad when I came to the wall. I don’t remember much after that except I was revived, here, in this hospital. Mr. Germain was there, offering me a bowl of broth in exchange for confirmation that you and Billy and Poe were in the underground.” Albert nodded slowly, knowing exactly where this was going. Abe let out a soft sob, covering his mouth. “I told them everything. The address of our hideout where they could find the others, the three of you.”

“We’d changed safe houses by that point,” Albert said. “The others were okay.”

It did little to help. Another sob traveled through Abe. “I’m sorry. I’m the reason they took you and beat you.”

“Come on, Abe,” Albert said. “You know I would never blame you for that.”

Abe shook his head. “I do. I traded your life for mine. I handed you over to the wrong people with the wrong power. I didn’t even hesitate, Albert.”

“You were desperate,” Albert said.

Abe ran a hand through his hair, staring at Albert’s wheelchair with red-rimmed eyes. “One day I’ll forgive myself for this. But part of that forgiveness starts with me telling you the truth. You have a right to know what I did.”

Albert nodded, starting to feel the effects of too much standing. He was still aware of how much his body needed to heal. “Abe, let’s be honest. I’ve actually done horrible things to you that were intentional because I was a selfish individual. You were desperate, needing to survive, and the people who you came to denied you that. They are the ones at fault.” Albert walked over to the wheelchair and eased himself into it.

Abe shook his head. “You almost died. Because of me.”

“Almost, Abe. Never forget that,” Albert said.

Another tear ran down Abe’s cheek and he wiped it away, giving a long sigh. “Thanks for listening. You said you don’t blame me, but I’m still sorry. Deeply. It seems I failed. Again.”

Albert placed his hands in his lap, staring at his friend. There was a lot of this talk that Albert knew was just depression, and he didn’t quite know how to wrestle through that thick fog to get to his friend.

“You did your best and fell short, Abe. To be honest, we all did.” Albert shrugged. “But when we all fell short, it was somehow the exact thing we needed to succeed.”

Abe finished drying his eyes, the smallest hint of a smile on his face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Albert said. “It honestly doesn’t make any sense, but if you never told on me, they never would have taken me. I never would have been beaten. Mr. Reagan never would have seen with his own eyes the truly evil things the S.E.A. did. He wouldn’t have turned as quickly, and they never would have arrested President Arnold.” Albert smiled. “Crazy, but true. There is no scientific reasoning that could possibly account for it. If we all fell short, this whole thing with toppling President Arnold’s power never should have worked. But it did. It’s simply the abnormal logic of humanity that will continue to baffle those with a more scientific mind.”

Abe nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. Strange as it is.”

They smiled, then Abe noticed the wheelchair and studied Albert’s face that was probably a little paler than normal. “Do you need me to take you down to the lobby to your parents?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Albert grabbed his crutch and tried to hold it in a way that wouldn’t hinder the wheelchair. Abe grabbed the handles and started rolling Albert out of the room. They got into the elevator and Abe pressed the lobby button. Albert stared ahead in his own thoughts as they started going down.

Of course Albert would never blame Abe, but he was certainly glad he hadn’t been placed in that situation. To be so starved and delirious that he would willingly give up information about his friends? He couldn’t begin to imagine the emotional anguish that would put him through.

The elevator hadn’t been going down long when it slowed to a stop. Someone must have needed the elevator. There was a ding as the doors parted open, and Albert’s entire body seized up. Adolf was standing there by the elevator with a backpack. Adolf almost walked on when he saw Abe and Albert, his eyes widening.

Please just wait for the next elevator.

Right as the doors started to close, Adolf shot his hand forward to stop them from closing and walked onto the elevator. Abe maneuvered Albert away so Adolf had room, and also to move Albert as far away as possible. They rode in an uncomfortable silence. Albert stared ahead, willing himself to not imagine every possible worst-case scenario of what might happen.

“When I told you to stay out of my way, I didn’t realize you would then go on to topple the entire government,” Adolf said, his voice low and suspicious.

Albert refused to look at Adolf. “We didn’t topple the government. We overthrew a dangerous dictator. There’s a difference.”

“Not one I can see,” Adolf said. “A government is only as good as its leader.”

“Then we had an awful one,” Albert said.

Adolf let out a breath with a small crooked smile. “We seem to disagree on so many things, Albert.”

“We’re trying to cultivate a place where you can disagree and still get along,” Albert said.

“Truly ambitious,” Adolf said. “You honestly think you and I could get along?” Albert finally looked at Adolf. True, Albert was in a wheelchair, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling of Adolf towering over him like some sort of predator. He didn’t have an answer to Adolf. “All you’ve done is shift the power, Albert. You have isolated the people of the arts, made them feel like they’re evil for believing we need to be protected.”

“This city is a place for everyone, where everyone’s concerns need to be listened to,” Abe said.

Adolf turned his attention toward Abe. “Good intentions, yes. But there is still a group that feels isolated and unheard. Those that believed what President Arnold said about math and scientists, and are too afraid to voice their opinions because they will be instantly shot down.”

“Not all scientists are mad scientists,” Albert said.

“Which is a fine way to ignore the idea that there are still dangerous mad scientists in the city,” Adolf said, his voice turning dangerous. “Just by saying that you’re not evil doesn’t negate the duty you have to fish them out and get rid of them.”

“What do you think we’re doing? Right now?” Albert asked.

“The clearance the police have you going through isn’t strong enough. There aren’t nearly as many scientists ending up in jail for their crimes.”

“That should tell you that there aren’t nearly as many evil scientists as you think,” Albert said.

“No, all the news wants to say is that President Arnold is completely wrong. To the point where you’re afraid to arrest the evil scientists that proves he was right in his caution. Ignoring the experiences of people who have been hurt by those evil people, refusing to acknowledge their pain, the lopsidedness is not lost on me and the group I’m in,” Adolf said.

“Then tell us who they are so we can listen to them,” Albert said. “That’s how change is going to happen in this city. Give us the stories and experiences and let’s figure this out as a community. Don’t hide in the shadows and wallow in hate.”

Adolf said nothing, just smiled in a way that made Albert terrified for the first time since waking up in a hospital. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Do you know their leader?” Albert couldn’t help but ask. “We can talk to them. Don’t turn down this opportunity to heal the city, Adolf.”

The doors of the elevator opened and Adolf turned around and walked off, holding the strap of his backpack. Abe and Albert hesitated in the elevator.

“You okay?” Abe asked.

“We’ve got to tell the others. We’ve got to make sure no one in this city feels alone and unheard,” Albert said. “If we don’t, they’ll go to Adolf’s group. We cannot let that happen. We cannot give him power.”

Abe nodded as he pushed Albert’s wheelchair out of the elevator.