The next day, Anya sat with Papa in his office at the hospital. Papa gazed intently at nothing in particular. He turned to Anya. "Do you think," he said, "there is another telepath out there?"

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe."

"You told me you mostly read what people think in words," he said. "Was it always that way?"

"As long as I can remember," she said. "Where I was before the orphanage, there was somebody who said my telepathy came in at age 2. They thought that was normal."

Papa nodded, and frowned. "But there are reports of other telepaths who never spoke at all," he said. "They might have perceived the thoughts of others primarily as images, or sound, or completely abstract constructs. Another issue is distance. You've said you can read my mind and Mama's at 50 meters range, and Becky and a few of your friends at 30, but you need to be within 10 meters or less for people you don't know. And when you tried projecting your thoughts to me, you barely managed 1time in 3 at less than 5 meters range. Still, again, we have no frame of reference for another telepath."

He turned his gaze to Anya. "We still don't really know who was experimenting on you, or what they might have learned," he said. "Yuri says it wasn't the SSS, or any branch of the Ostanian military. He did find records of earlier attempts to study and use telepathy. The main thing they found was that it was useless to gather telepaths together for study at a single location. Apparently, their powers cancel out or create direct interference, even at ranges over 10 kilometers. This could be a danger for you, Anya. Several telepaths died after being put in proximity to each other."

For a moment, real fear filled his eyes. He leaned back, his calm returning. "But if this was another telepath in the Berlint area, you would already know," he said. "It must be someone who normally lives much further off. The fact that both contacts occurred close to your birthday can't be coincidence, either. It could simply be that the individual is making annual trips to Berlint. We cannot make any further assumptions about his, or her, identity or background. It could be a child like you were, or an adult living the life you might have had, using their powers for others' ends or hiding them to avoid persecution. Have you talked any more with the Gloomans about their research?"

"Yeah," Anya said. "George says his father's foundation has secured a research grant for a study at the Eden Institute. Their science guys think they can develop a test for telepathy. For now, they want to do tests on me."

Papa nodded. "Do you think you can handle that?" he said. "Remember, it's okay to back out if it's too much."

"No, that won't be any trouble," she said. She squeezed Papa's hand. "I've met people on the team the Glooman Foundation is putting together. They're a lot of dorks, but they're nice."

"Good," Papa said. "Work with them, as long as you're happy doing it. You can help a lot of people just like you. If you find you need to stop, there's always a chance they will have found others who can continue the work." He smiled. "Always remember- I'm proud of you." They embraced.

Later that day, George Glooman visited the family flat. Anya eagerly showed him the penguin he had won for her, in a prized place alongside Mr. Chimera and the Frankensteiny penguin Papa had won and then repaired. "They're Mister and Missus Penguin," Anya said. "They're adopting Mr. Chimera."

"That's cute," the boy Anya still thought of as Gloomy said. "I like that you don't get uptight about holding onto things from when you were young. I wanted to show you something I saved." He reached into a school bag he had with him, and took out a small box. Anya was merely puzzled when he took out a large leaf imperfectly covered in wax.

"What is this?" she said. She held back from reading his mind.

"Remember the day I thought I would have to leave Eden because my family was going broke?" Gloomy said in a gush. "Everybody gave me gifts. You gave me this leaf. It was the only thing I didn't have to give back when it turned out I could stay after all. It's a pretty leaf, really." Anya nodded. She vaguely remembered collecting leaves for about a week because Mama had talked about making a scrapbook.

"That day changed me," Gloomy said. "I was already trying to be like my father. Then I saw that all it had gotten him was a failed company, when there was so much more. And you were the one who saw what I could become. You knew what I had done, but you were still kind to me. That's the same person I see now, and you still make me want to be better. Oh, Anya- will be… um… like… my girlfriend?"

Anya stood frozen. She knew if she waited longer, Gloomy would apologize and pretend it had been a joke. Then she heard the sound of a song: "Come and grow young…"

"Yes," she said. "Yes! You can be my boyfriend!" She hugged George, just as the door opened.

"Hey, Mrs. Forger," George said as Mama entered with Bond and Baby Brother dozing over one shoulder. "So, Anya and I were just talking…"

"Gloomy is my boyfriend!" Anya squealed. She gave George a kiss on the cheek.

"Aw, that's wonderful!" Mama said. Bond added an enthusiastic worff. Baby Brother stirred and looked up curiously. "Why don't you stay for dinner? You can tell us all about it!"

For a crucial moment, George was silent. That was when Anya took his hand. Her face flushed with what Mama took for embarrassment, when in fact she was focusing her powers to send a message: Papa's cooking tonight.

George smiled. "Sure, I'd love to!" he said.