"Is it actually necessary to live in a see-through house, Jason?" Eve asked walking up behind me.

"Being able to watch me comforts them."

"The human race can deal with giving you a little privacy," she said.

"I'm the head of the Institute."

"And I thought I had it bad!" she sighed. "Being the first unmarried President makes the holo-reporters go insane if I have a late meeting. God forbid it be with a Positive!"

"We had to rush a Healer to the hospital for the holo-reporter who fell off the roof that one time," I said.

"It's your fault," she accused. "Your sex life is so accessible, people expect every media figure to fuck on camera. Of course, nobody can get your ratings. What was your last get-together? Four women! 'It's a powerless grav-plate, Mr. Director. Can we spend the weekend in your bed?' I wish I knew you were that easy to get into bed when I was your Watcher."

"It makes people feel better to see..."

"Please!"

"As I remember, your last visit to the Institute put two Positives in..."

"So why did you ask me over?" she said, cutting me off. I put my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

"A pair of twins tested Symbolic," I said. "Another pair, in the same town, tested as Healers."

She was quiet, absorbing the information.

"What's in the water of that town?" she asked.

"It gets better," I said.

"Let me sit down," she replied. I heard the clicking of her heels. "Hit me."

"The children were raised according to the Director's specifications for twins," I said.

"Nobody does that," she said. "Everyone says they do, but nobody does."

"The mothers had their instructions directly from the Director," I said.

"Why would he do that?"

"They're my children."

"That's impossible," she said. "I've read the reports; you're sterile."

"The bio-techs have altered their diagnosis to 'most likely biologically immature at the time of testing'," I said.

"What?!?" she exclaimed and took a harsh breath suddenly. "Amada's children! Two children, two Positives!"

I waited for her to put it together.

"There's only been three children with a Healer parent," she said. "The bio-techs thought I might be the anomaly and not Amada's daughters. I wondered why she chose to go to the Asia-Institute."

"She was carrying my child," I said, "A secret the Director wanted kept."

"How many children do you have?"

"Eleven."

"It's impossible," she insisted. "You can't keep that kind of secret from Telepathics, especially you."

"There is a way," I sighed. "Most Telepathics use the hammer, which tends to leave things in a mind-wipe, but a careful one won't even leave ripples behind."

"The bio-techs still have to do the work, Jason!"

"Symbolic programming."

"The Symbolic programs the behavior, and the Telepathic wipes any trace of what happened," Eve said. "It's too subtle for Operatives, even Santos."