---

Caelwyn:
“These prints are too deep.”

Stacy:
“Yes.”

Caelwyn:
“For that weight.”

Stacy:
“He was running.”

Caelwyn:
“Hard.”

Stacy:
“Too hard.”

The ground is soft from the thaw. Green shoots push through the mud around the footprints.

Caelwyn:
“Track team?”

Stacy:
“There’s a boy.”

Caelwyn:
“There’s always a boy.”

Stacy:
“He wasn’t fast last year.”

Caelwyn:
“And now?”

Stacy:
“Now people are talking.”

Caelwyn:
“Training?”

Stacy:
“At first.”

Caelwyn:
“And now?”

Stacy:
“Something else.”

A quiet pause. Wind moves through the field.

Caelwyn:
“Performance enhancement.”

Stacy:
“Yes.”

Caelwyn:
“That’s not new.”

Stacy:
“No.”

Caelwyn:
“Stronger. Faster. Better.”

Stacy:
“That word again.”

Caelwyn:
“Better.”

Stacy:
“According to who?”

Caelwyn:
“According to results.”

Stacy:
“And results don’t measure everything.”

She crouches, touching the ground near the footprints.

Stacy:
“Do you know what’s different this time?”

Caelwyn:
“What?”

Stacy:
“It works.”

Silence.

Caelwyn:
“It always worked a little.”

Stacy:
“Not like this.”

Caelwyn:
“How much?”

Stacy:
“Faster recovery. Increased strength. Reduced fatigue.”

Caelwyn:
“Side effects?”

Stacy:
“That’s the part people ignore.”

Caelwyn:
“No.”

Stacy:
“That’s the part they accept.”

Caelwyn looks at her.

Caelwyn:
“You’ve seen him.”

Stacy:
“Yes.”

Caelwyn:
“And?”

Stacy:
“He’s… efficient.”

Caelwyn:
“That’s not what I asked.”

Stacy:
“I know.”

A longer pause.

Caelwyn:
“What’s wrong with him?”

Stacy:
“He doesn’t react.”

Caelwyn:
“To what?”

Stacy:
“Anything.”

Caelwyn:
“Pain?”

Stacy:
“Reduced.”

Caelwyn:
“Fear?”

Stacy:
“Almost none.”

Caelwyn:
“Emotion?”

Stacy:
“…Delayed.”

The wind bends the small plants. They straighten again.

Caelwyn:
“That’s not improvement.”

Stacy:
“No.”

Caelwyn:
“That’s removal.”

Stacy:
“Yes.”

Caelwyn:
“What did they take out?”

Stacy:
“Hard to say.”

Caelwyn:
“Something unnecessary?”

Stacy:
“Something inefficient.”

Caelwyn:
“And what counts as inefficient?”

Stacy looks at him.

Stacy:
“Fear. Doubt. Hesitation.”

Caelwyn:
“Human things.”

Stacy:
“Yes.”

Silence settles between them.

Caelwyn:
“Do you know what worries me?”

Stacy:
“What?”

Caelwyn:
“That people will look at him…”

He gestures toward the distant town.

“…and think it’s worth it.”

Stacy:
“They already are.”

Caelwyn:
“And the cost?”

Stacy:
“Doesn’t show immediately.”

Caelwyn:
“It never does.”

Another pause.

Caelwyn:
“What happens when you remove too much?”

Stacy:
“The body adapts.”

Caelwyn:
“And the person?”

Stacy looks down at the small green plants breaking through the soil.

Long silence.

Then:

Stacy:
“Some things don’t grow back.”

---

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