There was no sound except for the soft clip clop of her sneakers on the warm asphalt. The sun, that never fully shone on the house-shaded Septemberclaver road, beat down on her bare shoulders. In her imagination, she was pursued by an image of Ronald, the System Operator's son.

After Ronald's Fatherhood speech, there was nothing that Clara could say to her mother and father that would change their minds. "It is time for you and Ronnie to unite," they said. With those words, she entered a life where Ronald began having dinner with her family, and she was no longer allowed to go running with Ethan.