SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY

So...Meerm is in Newark.

Zero couldn't be absolutely sure, but it was evident that Portero believed so. Zero had hired a private detective to keep an eye on him. Often the man reported back that Portero had given him the shake, but tonight he'd called and said that Portero and three others had made a beeline from the SimGen campus to a battered neighborhood in Newark.

Zero had driven his van from the West Side garage, through the Holland Tunnel, into Newark. Although only a few miles, the trip had taken nearly an hour. But well worth it. Arriving, he'd been treated to the spectacle of Luca Portero and his men herding dozens of sims through the streets, all calling "Meerm! Meerm!"

His heart had sunk. The swine had found her - or damn near. Only a matter of time before all those men and sims tracked Meerm down.

And then...a reprieve. He'd pounded his steering wheel with glee as he watched Portero and company make a slapdash retreat just before the Newark Police arrived with their lights flashing. They'd left empty-handed, which meant that Meerm - if she were here at all - was still somewhere in the vicinity. It also meant that Portero and his men would be back.

Zero had been tempted to wait until the cops were gone and then try to find Meerm on his own. But as much as his heart went out to that poor, frightened creature hiding somewhere in the dark, searching alone seemed like courting disaster.

All this gave Zero much to think about on the long ride back to Long Island.

By the time he arrived home he had a semblance of a plan, one that had been inspired by Portero himself when he'd conscripted Meerm's fellow sims to find her. The murdering bastard was clever, no getting around that.

But Zero could play that game too, and play it better.

He removed his knit watch cap and tinted lenses, then unwrapped the scarf from his lower face. The air felt good against his skin.

His answering machine carried a message from Patrick saying they still hadn't nailed down "surge" but had a lead or two they'd follow up tomorrow.

Ellis's warnings about digging into "surge" still haunted him, especially his comment that Zero would not come through "unscathed" if he persisted. And his description of some of the secrets behind SimGen as "unspeakable"...a word he found deeply disturbing.

But there was no turning back now. Events were gathering momentum, and he had to find a way to control them, or at least steer them in the right direction.

One thing he knew he must control was Meerm. For her own sake, and the sake of all sims, he had to keep her out of SimGen's hands. And to that end, Zero knew of a very bright sim named Tome who would be more than willing to help. If he could find a way to sneak Tome into the Newark crib, the sims there might trust him enough to let him know where Meerm was hiding.

Ifthey knew.

But assuming they did, Zero and Tome could then seek her out and bring her to safety.

Another if:If she'd come along.

Meerm probably had been so terrified by Portero and his thugs that she wouldn't trust any human now. Another instance where Tome again might come in handy.

But Zero had reservations about the old sim's powers of persuasion. And that was why Zero had to accompany him. Because if Tome couldn't coax Meerm out of hiding, Zero would have to step in.

He moved to the dusty mirror over the sofa and looked at himself. He did that often. Too often, perhaps, he thought. But that's what you do when you wished you looked like someone else, like something else.

He looked at his forehead and wished for less of a slope and a less prominent brow ridge; he wished his nose were longer, and his lips thinner.

This was not a face Romy could love, but it might be a face Zero would have to let her see. Because Meerm was that important. He'd risk anything to keep her away from SimGen, even if it meant revealing what he was.

For when Zero took off his mask, Meerm would have to trust him. Because she would know she was talking to another sim.