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the frantic-looking mama, but I decided she went with the tall man by the door. He was still just sitting there drooling, but she hadn’t stopped staring the whole time we’d been here.
    By contrast, the Japanese man belonged to no one. The assistants mostly ignored him, but he seemed fine on his own. He walked effortlessly to the balance beam and traversed it with ease. I’d tried my hand at walking plenty of fence rails in my day, but I always fell off. The Japanese man, on the other hand, didn’t so much as bobble.
    â€œYou see?” Dr. Franks asked. “He’s a breakthrough, a real breakthrough!”
    I couldn’t decide if he was a breakthrough or not, but he did look more stable than the other subjects, who were in various states of not-standing. When the Japanese man reached the end, he hopped off like a sparrow, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed. But the assistants were so busy getting drooled on—or worse—that none of them had.
    The Japanese man eyed the others with something like curiosity. I couldn’t say I blamed him. They were acting like a pack of overgrown toddlers, but instead of running for cover (like I would have, no doubt), the Japanese man turned around.
    Dr. Franks tensed. “What’s he doing?”
    It hit me as soon as he reached another subject, a short, stocky woman who was on her hands and knees. “He wants to help,” I whispered.
    Sure enough, the Japanese man took one look at the woman, then extended a hand.
    Before she could decide if she wanted to take it, Dr. Franks pounced on the intercom. “Keep him moving, Jackson! He must complete the whole course if we want to be able to make a full analysis.”
    â€œAre you talking about the Jap?” someone asked. “How’d he get here, anyway? And why’s he not crawling like Maisie?”
    Before Dr. Franks had a chance to answer, Auntie Mildred exploded. “He’s an imposter!” she screamed. “And he was supposed to be
mine
!”
    She thumped on the window, then crumpled into a ball. A growl started rumbling in her chest, then steadily built into a howl. It reminded me of the coyotes that roamed the hills during the night. When she dragged her nails along the glass, leaving inch-long scratches, the other families shifted back. I would have done the same if she hadn’t been my flesh and blood.
    It seemed like I should say something, since I was closer than Mama, but the sound she was making didn’t promote conversation. I was about to chicken out when I remembered the Japanese man. If he could hold out a hand to a perfect stranger, then I could comfort my own auntie. Tentatively, I patted her shoulder, but as soon as I made contact, she yelped like a hurt dog and knocked my hand away. When it hit the window, it echoed like a gong—or a gunshot.
    I was too stunned to do much more than stare, but Dr. Franks pounced on another button. “Imogene, I need backup! I repeat, I need backup!”
    It only took a minute for the men in black suits to show up. While the other families crouched down and tried to make themselves less noticeable, the men dragged Auntie Mildred away from the window, then uncapped a needle and jammed it into her arm. It only took a second for Auntie Mildred’s eyes to roll back in her head.
    Mama’s eyes hardened. “What have you done?” she demanded as they towed Auntie Mildred away. Her heels dragged on the tiles, leaving long black skid marks that would probably take days to scrub off.
    I just stared at the spot where Auntie Mildred had fallen, trying to ignore the rising tide of nausea that was taking over my stomach. She’d never been my favorite relative, but watching those men jab her had rearranged my loyalties.
    Dr. Franks held up his hands. “It was just a precaution,” he said as he shrank away from Mama. “She was a danger to herself and others.”
    â€œShe might