"'Cause I didn't know what they were, til the buildin' was ash." Kevin couldn't look at Frau. "All I knew was they were wrong, they didn't feel right, an' the scientists were cookin' 'em up."

His ears heated slightly. "An' ya not a mutant. Ya ain't got that automatic fear of clonin' an' experimentin' that we're taught. I couldn't explain it t'no one but another mutant." And one other thing. "An', I couldn't let ya get hurt. I made m'bed. I took the consequences."