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Monday - September 13

"Why yes, dear, I do," confirms Aunt Ruth. Claire notices how Aunt Ruth's voice quivers, wondering what that means.

Claire now wants to know about everyone in the photo, and says, "Let's sit down on the couch, Aunt Ruth, and you can tell me who everyone is." Claire escorts Aunt Ruth to the couch, grabs their teas, and when both women are comfortable, she looks at the photo, and points to a young boy in the background.

"Aunt Ruth," Claire says, "I believe that this young man is John's father's brother. That would make him your brother, too. John said he died when he was three years old. What was his name, Aunt Ruth?" Claire asks, anxiously waiting for an answer.

"Jonathan. His name was Jonathan," Aunt Ruth sadly replies, as she rubs her fingers over his face.

"Jonathan? Is John named after him?"

Waiting for a response, Claire begins to ask the question again, but Aunt Ruth mutters softly, "Yes. Yes, he is."

"Well, I can see a lot of resemblance of John in him," Claire states.

Noticing that Aunt Ruth's voice is breaking up, Claire points to another man in the photo and asks, "Who is this man, Aunt Ruth?"

Aunt Ruth became extremely silent. Claire looks at her as she watches every nerve in her face to see the reaction to her question. Patiently waiting, Claire takes the picture from Aunt Ruth's hand, and decides to remove the photo from the frame. Claire unlatches the frame hooks from the backside, allowing her to carefully pull out the picture. Aunt Ruth exhales a deep sigh, and begins to fidget with her hands. Claire says, "That's better. Now, let's see if anything is written on the back. Shall we?"

Turning the photo over, Claire notices that there are three names written on the back: John's father's name, Gerald, along with the names of Raymond, and Daniel, with the word "Neptune" in quotes. Claire knows Gerald, but she wonders who Raymond and Daniel are. She asks Aunt Ruth to identify them.

Handing the photo to Aunt Ruth, Claire watches her finger shake as she points to the man standing next to Gerald's left. "This is Raymond... Raymond Dorsey. He was a genetic physicist who worked with Gerald at the CDC about forty to forty-five years ago. Raymond..." she pauses, "Raymond was a bright young man who discovered a genetic fault that every human has. During his discovery, he found that the fault could be tampered in such a manner that DNA could be changed, causing a perfect alteration in one's genetic code. After several experiments, the CDC decided to shut down Raymond's research, causing him to become better known as a quack. By which, undoubtedly, lead him to an insane state, eventually leading to his own suicide."

Claire senses that Aunt Ruth's memories of Raymond are uncomfortable. Claire takes her hand and asks, "Did you know Raymond at all?"

Not responding too quickly, Aunt Ruth continues to look at the photo and whispers, "Intimately."

"Well," Claire says as she clears her throat, "which man is Daniel, the "Neptune"?"

Aunt Ruth points to the man standing on the far left side of the picture. Her hand begins to shake, and immediately she slams the photo down on the coffee table. She quickly stands up, wrings her hands together, and then looks at the clock saying, "Oh, my dear, I had no idea it was so late. I must go before it becomes too dark."

Aunt Ruth heads to the hallway to grab her coat. Claire grabs her arm and says, "Aunt Ruth, it's not that late. You've only been here for twenty minutes and haven't finished your tea," as she points to the unfinished tea.

"No, dear, it's getting late and I have some other errands to finish up before evening falls. I'm sorry, but I must be going. Thank you for a lovely time, Claire," Aunt Ruth anxiously says, as she releases herself from Claire's grip.