�Shall we go on to step six?� it asked quietly.

His head snapped up, and his mouth opened, ready to tear the apparition verbally to pieces, until he saw that it was crying too. It was almost too much to take, seeing it there like that, like he had been, standing on the sidewalk that day, gun drawn, shaking, as he was shaking now, terrified that the Dominicans had somehow found out, that his own stupidity � his uncontrollable addictions � were going to cost a little boy his life. He�d been so scared it had taken him several moments to recognize Sorenson, for it to register in his brain that everything had, for once, gone right. Gone right, thank

No! And step six was about God again.

�Are you ready to have God remove these defects of character?� he spat sarcastically at his nemesis.

As if ...

Amazingly, it was silent. He stared at it, hard, but it seemed preoccupied with examining the pattern on the quilt. At length, it looked up at him and said, �Like I said, I am you, and so yes I have doubts. There�s been so little evidence in my life of God�s existence, and far too much insistence on dire punishment for going against His wishes � wishes written down, translated and interpreted by men. I�ll admit to going on until now by giving Him the benefit of the doubt: I can�t prove He does not exist, therefore I need to be prepared in case He does; which is chiefly why I haven�t ended up as the alternate ego of me you created did ...� - it brushed his fingers over the bullet holes in its chest - �since I can�t think of any very good reason I should go on living otherwise, and the world would no doubt be a much better place without me in it. But do I have evidence now?� It swallowed and seemed to gaze at the corner of the dresser momentarily without seeing it. �Not so much in noticing that everything went right on that day � the one you were remembering when Diane rescued you - but, I think, maybe in Diane herself. It may be some other agency that guides her, but to know that she was once as I am � and to see her now ... well, I can�t discount God the way I once did, nor blame Him either. If He gave me the rope to hang myself with, He didn�t require me to use it.�

Listening to the thing talk, he felt suddenly weak inside. The thoughts were his � had been his for some time now, since he�d met her, though he�d confined their conscious expression to simply admiration for her fortitude. But there was more than just that � and more than ...