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The word sat on the monitor like a wound. Tomas laughed then looked away fast. Mara tasted metal in her mouth. The scientific imperative and the moral imperative collided in her skull like tectonic plates.

One evening, as autumn tightened the city, an unmarked envelope arrived for Mara. Inside, a single line of inked paper: "If it reads, can it be read?" No signature. No return. She passed the note to Tomas without comment. He read it, then slid it back with a small, tired smile. "Two-way," he said. "Maybe it wants to tell us something." juq150 hot