"I love you too."

"Your emphasis implies that there's someone who doesn't. Miles?" she guesses.

"Well, Ekaterin didn't either, but principally Miles, yes."

"Did he say why?"

"He implied that his reasons may not be sensible and is unsure that he wishes to attempt to explain them, last time it came up in conversation."

"I could hazard a guess," says Cordelia.

"Could you? What would it be?"

"These genome extrapolations - you could run them for anyone, couldn't you? If you ran them for me, you'd get a picture of me. If you ran them for Aral, you'd get a picture of Aral. If you ran them for Miles, you would not get a picture of Miles - definitely not one accurate below the neck, anyway."

"Right. He asked about that when I first brought up that I could produce the pictures. I think I'd want to know in his position but I can somewhat understand not - it makes less sense to me for Aral Adri, who is overwhelmingly unlikely to encounter similar issues."

"I think, for Miles... he has a very immediate understanding of how bad it would be for him, if pictures of the Miles who might have been existed anywhere. If Aral and I had seen them - if General Piotr had seen them, God forbid. So when he thinks about looking at advance pictures of his own children, that's what comes to mind first. It's an emotional response, not mediated by probability calculations. He can't discount the possibility, because it looms too large for him."

"I don't think I do understand how bad it would have been. What would the pictures have done? If you'd seen them?"

"He already subconsciously compares himself to the imaginary unimpaired Miles - very subconsciously, for the most part. If there were pictures, I think he would be... haunted is the word I would use. Haunted by them. The comparison would become a conscious one, and obsessive, and unpleasant. I think he might give himself too little credit for resilience... but I know I'm never going to ask to see pictures of his extrapolated phenotype. Not until well after he does, if he ever does."

"Well, he hasn't asked. I haven't even looked and I have the sample sequenced so as to be able to extract the eye color..."

"I suggest that you keep it that way, for his peace of mind. He might take it best from you, of all the people who could look, but 'best' unfortunately does not have to mean 'well'."

"I suppose it doesn't help much that I'd consider it a tremendous drawback if I couldn't scoop him up readily."

"Probably not."

"Oh well. I will continue to not look at pictures of hypothetical Miles. ...Possibly unless Mark wants a look one day, I think I'd consider him entitled."

"Perhaps, yes. That's a tricky one."

"It is. But Mark does not seem to have made any relatively short-term decision to show up, let alone ask for pictures of his nonscoopable hypothetical self, so perhaps the decision can be abdicated indefinitely."

"That would be lucky."

"Yes. ...But since simulation pictures of Aral Adri already exist, and I have already looked at them, do you want to see?"

"Sure."

"How much of this is design work? I know you mentioned giving him Miles's eyes... they're very lovely on him."