AS WE WALK back toward the warehouse, I can see Lamont getting more energetic, a little more sure on his feet. He stops to look at me.

“Maddy,” he says. “That’s a good name.”

“Thanks,” I say. At least he has some short-term memory left.

I wonder if I should tell him that it was my little mouth mambo that that finally brought him back. But I decide not to say anything. Let him believe that advanced science revived him. That’s what he paid for, right?

“Maddy,” he says, “I need to go home. Maybe Margo will be there.”

“Where’s home?” I ask. I realize that I have no idea where he’s from, where he lived, how he got here.

“My townhouse,” he says. He turns to face north. “That way!”

After a hundred and fifty years, any place he used to live has probably been torn down or boarded up. But I decide to play along.

“No problem,” I say. “We’ll find a way there. Slowly.”

But Lamont is already gathering steam, heading for the alley between the warehouses. He’s shaking his arms like he’s trying to get the feeling back.

“Hold on!” I yell. “Wait up!”

I duck back inside the warehouse to grab my scooter. Fletcher is still sitting in his saggy seat, scribbling in a notebook.

“Lamont’s on a mission,” I tell him. “He wants to go uptown.”

Fletcher closes his notebook and leans forward in his chair.

“Are you crazy?” he says.

“What?” I say. “You want to put him back in the vault?”

“You know he could drop dead at any minute, right?” says Fletcher. “We kick-started him, but nobody knows the effects of long-term deceleration.”

“Look,” I say. “I know he’s your little science experiment. But he’s my inheritance. I’ll watch him.”

“I’m telling you, he needs to be monitored!” says Fletcher. “He’s not ready for a goddamned tour of the city!”

I realize that what Fletcher is saying makes sense. Things are moving a little too fast. What if Lamont needs another jolt?

“You’re right,” I say. “I’ll get him.”

I head back outside. It’s been less than twenty seconds. But now I realize that it was a mistake to let Lamont out of my sight. Because when I look down the alley, he’s gone.