That's a question Gene should have expected, even if he's not quite sure how to answer it. "Yeah. It feels like I'm sliding backwards sometimes. Even if I know I'm better, it doesn't feel that way sometimes."

He has to think for a moment. "A mirror," he says at last, "because that's what his name means, but it's not a perfect reflection. I see the parts of me that I cut away and that I'm trying to get away from. I know it's not his fault. I know it's mine. But it's still hard to accept."