๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ดโ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ; ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ต.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅโ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐บ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ค๐ณ๐บ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ.
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ?"
"๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ?"
"๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บโ"
"๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ."
"๐๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต? ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ดโ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ. ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ? ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด, ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ."
"๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ. ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ดโ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ?"
"๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐บ."
"๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ! ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ."
"๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ."
She awoke imparting tears from her eyes as she looked at the wintered trees from the balcony window. She grappled her face, crippling to another wave of exhaustion. It felt good not to worry about her assignments, about others, about how they were going to be executed.
She could almost feel real, if only she'd let herself believe that. Mischa made her feel real, while everyone else had their own motivations and intentions. Something stirred in her gut as she traced along her scars; she longed to remember more, but unsure if it were a dream, nightmare, or glitch, she would have to reassess the value of what she remembered and if it were true.
Okta didn't notice how late it was until seeing a sunset kissed sky; the bloodletting in pink of the clouds made her feel fettered to agony as an assortment of images commingled within her mind. What was her purpose, if any? Why did Dr. Eaton disregard her after she proved her worth? Was she worthless?
Some of it was coming back, but it still couldn't be pieced together thoroughly. The scientists were obstructing her memories, and her underlying glitchโthe hiccups that caused her to dissolve from online, she still didn't know what her sickness was.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to know. It seemed recent enough, but as she was still dumping water out of her rooted wires, she wondered what else she could not recall.
She could barely remember the former king, but she knew enough modern history that the colonies dispersed before killing each other in a series of small wars. It was knowledge that felt natural to her. She was in enough wars, recalling in distant psychological experience, to warrant the existential solipsistic dread that when she held the sword, she was the only one that mattered in anyone's eyes.
Including her father's.
* * *
Mischa was chopping carrotsโsmaller and smaller until it was almost baby food. She trained her heartbeat steady at the approaching footsteps, but they never came into the kitchen. She hoped Okta wasn't trying to probe more from her encryption. Truth be told, she didn't think the bionic could crack this one; it was too messy, almost as if someone entangled each wire, synapse, and code in her mind to process technicolor memories as they were. She couldn't remember vulnerability nor her "Birthday."
Mischa remembered it to the point she wished she hadn't.
"๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช," ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต; ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค'๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
"๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ," ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข'๐ด ๐จ๐ถ๐ต. "๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ? ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?"
"๐๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ณโฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ตโฆ" ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ด ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ด (๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ) ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. "๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ!?"
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆโ"
"๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ."
"๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ."
๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข'๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณs' ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ," ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ!"
๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ. "๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฃ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต."
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ-๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต.
"๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ!"
"๐๐ฐ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต," ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. "๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด."
๐๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข'๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ญ๐บโ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐บ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐จ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ?"
"๐๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ."
"๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฅโฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ? ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ, ๐๐ช-๐๐ข."
๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข'๐ด ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ. "๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ. ๐๐ฏ 2019, ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ, ๐๐ช-๐๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต."
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ. "๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ข๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด."
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ. "๐ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ."
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ง๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ช๐ง ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ." ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. "๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ญ๐บโ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโฆ ๐๐ณ. ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ '๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐บ.' ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ."
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฌ๐ต๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ. "๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข, ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข! ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ."
"๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐'๐ฎ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง." ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ, "๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ?"
"๐๐ฉ๐บ?"
"๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐น ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด."
"๐๐ฉ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ข. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ. ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ."
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ. "๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ."
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ข๐ญ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ."
"Mischa, have I done something to upset you?"
Oktavia's terrifying presence made her flit for the knife, before dropping it back down on the cutting board. "What?"
"There is someโฆ type of vomit on the vegetable cutting board."
"What are youโNo, no, I just chopped up the carrotsโover and over again."
"Why?"
Mischa finally turned around. "I got lost in thought. I was trying to make you soup."
"Ah, carrot soup, yes? My favorite."
"I'm going to need to get new carrots now," she sighed, rubbing her dirtied hands on her apron.
Oktavia laid her hand over Mischa's, grabbing the knife.
"It's okay." Mischa's heartbeat thumbed, expecting it to go through herโbut the bionic went to the fridge to retrieve potatoes. As she started peeling them, her eyes frothed over, a smile flickering, "Potato soup is my second favorite."
Mischa's eyes glittered with tears when she turned away.