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"Are virtual y irees "So you can see ere intrigued Why we let you see Ky’s picture so that you would be curious Why we roup, and then to the sah, at least for a ti; we could control so many variables We even reduced your meal portions to see if that would ive up But you didn’t Of course, ere never cruel You always had sufficient calories And you’re strong You never did take the green tablet"

"Why does that ," she says "A very intriguing subject, in fact Ultih to want to watch It would have been interesting to see your situation play out to the final predicted outcoenuine sadness "I planned to write an article about it, available only to select Officials, of course It would have been an unparal eled proof of the validity of Matching That’s why I didn’t want you to lose yourat the air-train station AlNow, at least I can see you make your final choice while you stil knohat happened"

The anger fil s ht or speech It would have been interesting to see it play out to the final predicted outco

"Unfortunately,the datapod in front of her "We simply don’t have the time to er"

"Why tel me al of this?" I ask "Why do you want me to know every last detail?" She looks surprised "Because we care about you, Cassia No more or less than we care about al our citizens As the subject of an experiht toany longer" It’s so funny, her use of the word choice, so unintentional y hysterical that I would laugh if I didn’t think it would co like a cry "Did you tel Xander?"

She looks offended "Of course not He’s stil your Match In order for the experiment to be control ed, he had to re about any of this"

Except what I told him, I think, and I realize that she doesn’t know

There are things she doesn’t know With this realization, it is as though soe drops intopure and clear And one of the things she knows nothing about is love

"Ky, however, was different," she says "We told hi hiive him impetus to try to be with you And that worked as wel " She s, because she also thinks that I don’t know this part of the story But, of course, I do

"So you watched us al the time," I say

"Not al the tiet an effective sample of what your interactions were like We couldn’t watch al of your interactions on the Hil , for example, or even on the smal er hilOfficer Carter stil had jurisdiction over that area and did not look kindly on our being there"

I wait for her to ask; soh she thinks she has an accurate sample, there is a part of her that has to know more

"So what did happen between you and Ky?" she asks

She doesn’t know about the kiss That was not what sent him away That moment on the Hil is stil ours, mine and Ky’s Ours No one has touched it but the two of us

This wil be what I have to hold onto as I go forward The kiss, and the poem, and the I love you’s rote and said

"If you tel me, I can help you I can recommend you for a work position in the City You could stay here; you wouldn’t have to leave for the Farmlands with your family" She leans closer "Tel me what happened"

I look away In spite of everything, the offer is te Oria; I don’t want to leave Xander and Em I don’t want to leave the places that hold so many memories of Grandfather And h because they are where I found and loved Ky

But he’s not here anymore I have to find him somewhere else

The prisoner’s dilemma Somewhere Ky keeps faith with ive up

"No," I say clearly

"I thought you’d say that," she tel s me, but I hear the disappointh I want to ask her if it ever gets tedious being right al the time But I think I knohat her ansould be

"So what is the final predicted outcome?" I ask

"Does it matter?" she smiles "It’s il happen It’s what you’l do But I’l tel you if you’d like" I realize that I don’t need to hear it; I don’t need to hear anything she has to say or any predictions she thinks she can make They do not know that Xander hid the artifact, that Ky can write, that Grandfather gave me poetry

What else doesn’t she know?

"You say you planned this al along," I say suddenly, on instinct, acting as though I want to be certain "You’re tel ingpool yourselves"

"Yes," she answers "We did"

This tiht at her when she speaks and that’s when I see it The faintest twitch of ht shift of her eyes, the s of performance in the tone of her voice She doesn’t often have to lie; she’s never been an Aberration, so this doesn’t come easily to her, she hasn’t had as much practice She can’t keep her face perfectly stil the way Ky does when he’s playing a game and he knohat he has to do, whether it’s better to win or lose

And although she’s been told how to play, she doesn’t know exactly which cards she’s holding

She doesn’t knoho put Ky into the Matching pool