1269_UgliesFreeBook

412 Scott Westerfeld
“It’s already screwed up.”
“But she’s happy, Tally.” David shook his head. “And she
can make decisions for herself.”
Tally pulled her hand away, staring out over the city. A
sparkler was already showing on the tall spire, uglies come
to gossip and trade. “Why did we even have to ask? They
didn’t get her permission when they did this to her!”
“That’s the difference between us and them,” Maddy
said. “After Az and I found out what the operation really
meant, we realized we’d been party to something horrible.
People had had their minds changed without their knowledge.
As doctors, we took an ancient oath never to do anything
like that.”
Tally looked into Maddy’s face. “But if you weren’t
going to help Shay, why did you bother finding a cure?”
“If we knew the treatment would work safely, then we
could give it to Shay and see how she felt about it later. But
to test it, we need a willing subject.”
“Where are we ever going to find one? Anyone who’s
pretty is going to say no.”
“Maybe for right now, Tally. But if we keep making
inroads into the city, we might find a pretty who wants out.”
“But we know Shay’s crazy.”
“She’s not crazy,” Maddy said. “Her arguments make
sense, in fact. She’s happy as she is, and doesn’t want to take
a deadly risk.”
“But she’s not really herself. We have to change her back.”