Five Years Later…

The door swings shut behind Connor with a thud. He's tired. His hand absently rubs the tattoo on his left wrist. Jojo Shafer. It matches his wife's, except the names are different. She put the name of some poor kid who was unwound and, without ever knowing it, saved Connor's life. Connor put the name of the girl who gave her her spine.

"Risa?"

"In here," she calls.

Connor walks into the living room and finds her sitting at the piano.

"How'd it go today?" She turns to face him.

He shrugs and loosens his tie. "Another day, another press conference."

Since his speech on the steps of the Capitol Connor, the famous and infamous Akron AWOL, became the poster boy for the movement to stop unwinding. As it turned out, his words weren't nearly as powerful as his actions. The image of him embracing his parents, the very people who had signed his unwind order, carried more weight than anything he could have said. It provided people with an excuse to heal.

Being a spokesman is not exactly Connor's first choice of careers, but it beats living on the run. The day after his speech the president pardoned him for all his so-called crimes, and issued an executive order to freeze all unwindings. It remained law, and no unwind was released from a harvest camp before turning seventeen, but nobody was sent to the chop shop since. He also directed the FBI to crackdown on the black market, and the flesh trade in North America all but vanished over the next few years.

Risa takes his tie, brushing the almost invisible seems along his neck. "Happy birthday, by the way. Lev called to wish the same."

"How's he doing?"

"Good. His book is coming out next month."

Connor nods. "I'll call him."

"You should really write one." Risa hands him an envelope with a bow on top.

Connor takes it, eyeing her. "I actually got a present already today."

"From who?"

"The Senate. They passed the measure."

Risa's jaw drops and her eyes light up. She knew it was coming, everyone did. With a dozen organ printers in every hospital, tens of millions of people tattooing the names of unwinding victims on their wrists, and leaked videos on the nimbus of actual unwinding procedures being carried out, public opinion to ban it outright went over 80%. Still, now that it's finally happening…

She jumps to wrap her arms around him. "I'm so proud of you."

"Stop, you were just as much a part of it as me."

"No I wasn't."

Connor shakes his head. They've had this conversation a hundred times, it never changes.

"So open it."

Connor tears the envelope to find a picture. He looks at it a moment, eyes softening. "I wanted to be there."

She takes his hand. "What you do is important, it's okay. You'll be at the next one."

"Is that..?"

She smiles, something she does more and more these days. Tears are in her eyes, but she doesn't hide them anymore. Not from him. "Yes. It's a boy."

Connor can't stop his smile, almost tearing up himself. "Ten fingers, ten toes."

Risa bursts into laughter. It's so contagious Connor joins in. The joke may be a little morbid given all they've been through, but it's more than that. It's a joke filled with victory, and filled with hope.