A five minute walk found us at the waterfront and beach.
A little while and we'll be where no one will find us as we play our games.
A man stopped to talk to us and tried to pat Bumpus.
A record of all human activity, with anonymity safeguards in place, will allow us all to become part of the solution by putting our minds to work on the problems of the world.
A red brick municipal building stood at the far end of the street ahead of us.
A ringing telephone interrupted us.
A roll of the dice changed the lives of all of us and hundreds of others forever.
A seating place was cleared for us near the front.
According to his notes, far more experiments were conducted than were ever discussed with us.
After some negotiations Martha was allowed to remain in bed while the rest of us, Claire included drove back to our house.
After you went up in a balloon, and escaped us, I got back to Kansas by means of a pair of magical silver shoes.
All five of us would be employed in various capacities at very generous salaries.
All I could think was once again, we were oh so close, but he'd alluded us.
All of us are feeling the pressure plus you have a new baby and a cranky husband who isn't helping you a bit.
All the main line murderers, gangsters and gang bangers looked down on us sex offenders like puke on the sidewalk but the pecking order didn't stop there.
Also understand that I'll kill anyone who comes between us and my plans, he warned.
An overseas bank account in the company name contained a balance of one million dollars as startup funds for us to secure quarters for the enterprise.
And do you know, Daddy, the day before yesterday we ran at them and, my word, they didn't let us get near before they just threw down their muskets and went on their knees.
And people say that fortune comes to us in our sleep.
And that meant, for too many of us, ditching what we loved to do and doing the work of a machine.
And then we come to Greece, the home of Hippocrates, the "Father of Modern Medicine," who left us not just the oath that bears his name but also a corpus of roughly sixty medical texts based on his teaching.
Any of us in the field receive it, he said and held up his iPhone.
Are we certain the tips this woman cited can't be traced back to us?
As each of us spent five full days a week together, we agreed to go our own ways on weekends, establishing an outside life.
As for us, Count, we get along on our pay.
As they died, they shouted, 'Communist Party, Chairman Mao, save us.'
As we alighted, an officer I recognized from the command center strolled up to us.
At the funeral, you didn't even set with us.
Before we take that further, let's consider something the Internet has taught us about ourselves.
Betsy and Martha, now practically best friends, conspired together against the rest of us until they owned most of the board.
Betsy called to her and she stopped and smiled as Betsy introduced us as interested tourists.
Betsy offered as the five of us brainstormed.
Betsy turned on a tape recorder as Howie reclined on the bed, turning away from us.
Betsy was in the kitchen, baking scones for a mid-morning snack, while the rest of us were lounging around the main room vetoing each other's suggestions.
Better microscopes gave us more information, more ways to unlock the secrets of life.
Between the two of us we ought to be able to carry them down to that room.
Both of us tried to remember details of Quinn's actions when he set up a session.
Both of us were new to New York City, and had few or no friends.
Brennan offered to pay us but we collectively agreed to not become wards of the government.
Brennan thanked us for the name and said he'd try to run down his whereabouts.
But as we grew up, reality set in that market forces did not allow those activities to pay enough to support us, so at some point we all figured out we had to "earn a living."
But come, my children; let us explore the mountain and discover which way we must go in order to escape from this cavern, which is getting to be almost as hot as a bake-oven.
But I expect that technology and free enterprise will take us across a threshold where things formerly regarded as scarce will not be so any more.
But if they don't want our food, why would they follow us?
But in the meantime, hunger will stay with us even in the world of plenty.
But remember this; we love you— all of us here, Fred included.
But there will be a few thousand bad guys within a stone's throw of us …" "Pull in everything we can from the east coast sectors," Dusty said.
But what we do with our time after work is strictly between the two of us.
But you don't believe us.
By declaring a pretty broad range of things worth killing and dying for, we say that each of those is more precious to us than human life.
Certainly some of the medical practices of the ancient world, such as bloodletting and the use of leeches, seem to us at least misguided and at worst, barbaric.
Claire Elizabeth is one of us now and bears the surname Gustefson, not Leblanc as her birth certificate reads.
Concrete walls surrounded us and the door, the only opening was a massive solid wood hulk.
Darkyn's bitch will get us into Hell.
Detective came up to us, his phone in hand.
Diablo. He's Yancey's method of relieving stress and getting away from us women once in a while.
Didn't stop to think we might be in the middle of helping when you sucked us dry?
Do I think he'll find us from Julie's letter, one of maybe thousands; it's unlikely.
Do you realize how many thousands of people tried to find us?
Do you think you could scare us up a warm snack?
Don't let it come between us.
Don't pay any attention to him, Fritz, he's just tryin' to scare us.
Dr. Bell went with us himself to the electrical building, and showed us some of the historical telephones.
Dusty won't let us have pets.
Dusty, can you pick a site and relay it to us?
Each and every one of them wants to kill us!
Each of us could find separate areas to be alone but remain close to each other.
Each of us maintains our own apartment, but when Betsy is in town, we spend most nights together.
Each of us nervously cut ties with our past by giving notice, making moving plans and advising our few friends and relatives.
Each of us received a six figure hiring bonus.
Each of us took turns thanking Merrill Cooms personally on the phone although he insisted it was unnecessary.
Each of us was relieving our daily pressure with other interests.
Economically, we understand the world around us in terms of scarcity.
Even if Brockville proved to be all he described, what would that tell us?
Even the trash-can liner newspaper that caused us to be hunted down by reward-sniffing hounds has backed off, terminating their contest.
Eventually they even set us free.
Everyone was tired so after perfunctory greetings over a single glass of wine for those of us drinking, we retreated to our sleeping quarters.
Father took us to see steamboat.
First off, I don't have the words to tell you how grateful I am for what you and your guys did for us.
For Christ's sake think of us! cried his wife, referring to the rumors of war and the enemy.
For computations, we developed processes that required us to perform many intermediate, error-prone steps to achieve an answer.
For, if we told you truly, you might escape us altogether; and if we told you an untruth we would be naughty and deserve to be punished.
Four of us, sans Martha, shared a bottle of bourbon with Quinn drinking two for each of ours.
Gabe's will get us into the underworld.
Give us a few days to learn what sort of laws you will make for us, and then we will say whether we can submit to them or not.
God; they wouldn't do that, not without telling us!
Going that way will put us further away from Ashley, but it will give us two advantages.
Grande and Pierre are joining us from our European front.
Han says she's progressing pretty quickly, though since none of us know how to train her, it's hard to tell.
Hard work made us thirsty and hungry as well.
He agreed that Bryce must have located us by way of Julie's entry in the million dollar contest.
He agreed to keep our conversation limited to the two of us and is willing to listen to you.
He didn't convey his conclusions to us.
He hasn't given us any reason to distrust him.
He hides from us too well.
He insists you two be with us before we move forward.
He introduced us, Pumpkin said.
He looked at each of us in turn.
He makes us pay taxes and gives us nothing in return.
He minimized the situation and thanked us for the excitement we'd given to the start of his retirement.
He now knew there were five of us although no other information was conveyed to him.
He obviously knew he owed us an explanation but I sensed he would wait us out until someone asked.
He picked at his food while the rest of us wolfed down stacks of pancakes and melt in your mouth sausage, the finest breakfast I'd eaten in years.
He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.
He probably thought we'd have talked her out of leaving, or at least into leaving their new identities with us.
He scorned all the rest of us for not holding on to our prizes, as he called them.
He sends soldiers among us to take away our liberty.
He smiled and joined us for a glass.
He so insisted on multiple times that none of us either questioned him.
He thanked us and I thanked him for all his generosity.
He thinks you are better than us.
He told us so if he heard the child crying, we'd no he had company.
He too was excited with Howie's success and promised to keep us informed.
He waited for me to continue but when I didn't he asked, "Do you suppose if there were a tipster, he or she could help us out?"
He wants us to do everything he says without question.
He worries about all of us, you know.
He wouldn't let us do any sort of test like what he just proposed until you guys arrived.
He'll follow us, won't he?
He's a big horse, but I couldn't make him carry the two of us in that terrain.
He's been camping in Keene for a week, looking for us.
He's been stalking us all the way from New Hampshire where he killed two friends of ours.
Her daughter is secure in the sealed room beneath the barn so it is only the two of us in my cabin.
His mother pushed him off on us because he stayed up here in New Hampshire because he stayed here a couple of summers growing and she thought visiting might jar something loose.
How many times have any of us been involved in an event remotely exciting?
How will all of this help us end disease?
However, his knowledge of us, and especially me, was either limited or incorrect.
However, we feared no threat from either, nor did we feel they wished to identify us.
Howie continued to look to us for direction while remaining adamant we exclude so much as mention of what we were doing to anyone outside our group.
Howie directed the four of us to go someplace nearby, inside or outside, and not divulge the location.
Howie had tried to explain to us that when he was under, as he called it, he had trouble telling if he was speaking aloud.
Howie jumped on Betsy, startling us.
Howie kept us in suspense until we assumed our seats around the table.
Howie remained silent during verbal our exchange, looking form one of us to the other, content to let us orchestrate the production.
Howie surprised us all by buying a fairly large home north west of town on the Old Walpole Road.
Howie was as excited as us once we could transport him more precisely.
Howie was due within the hour so only Quinn and Martha met us at the door.
Howie, ever hyper about the security of our endeavors, forbid our even discussing any interim results by phone, thereby leaving us in the dark.
Hundreds of printed reports covered our premises like a winter blizzard making us look as busy as a toy store at Christmas.
I agreed with my wife but pointed out even though Bryce had tracked us down, I couldn't think of any other slip ups besides Julie's contest that would point to us.
I base that expectation in part on the fact that today, many of us already live in more comfort than the richest king in the world did two hundred years ago.
I can see plenty of nice gardens and fields down below us, at the edge of this city.
I couldn't tell if the look he gave me was incredulity or concern but he grabbed my arm and led me outside where a suited man who must have topped six foot five was walking toward us.
I don't know which of us was the more upset.
I don't know who among us was the most nervous.
I don't see how these calls could be tagged back to us.
I don't think they're with us any more.
I don't want her to wake up in a strange room and not be able to find us.
I don't want him to see us!
I don't want things to be professional – not for you here and not between us.
I doubt the trip will ever come about as each of us seems content with our hands-off, albeit revered, relationship.
I guess I'd try to convince Quinn to let us use his stuff.
I have the least rewarding job of any of us so my desires are directed to family and this mind boggling venture Howie is taking us on.
I just don't think it's a good idea for us to be out here alone.
I just hope there isn't something truly important she's trying to tell us but is too afraid to say.
I just hoped and prayed somehow his contact of Ben or Howie could be used to locate us.
I knew from the start we were a house of cards in a windstorm, but you were the glue that held us together.
I knew I had ruined everything between us.
I let our stupid house rules stand between us for a long time, but I was the one who finally broke them.
I mean most of us raped women and that was it.
I need to be at full strength to send us back through the portal.
I never would have believed he would run off and leave us like that.
I poured us a second glass of wine as Betsy leaned back and closed her eyes, finally relaxing.
I prayed she'd take my warning seriously and maybe give us some helpful press in the bargin.
I read Martha's note to us and brought Betsy up to date on my conversation with Julie.
I refer to history extensively in these pages because I believe historical people are exactly like us, only in different circumstances.
I see on the internet another one of us was caught!
I so informed Mr. Cooms and between us, a patient doctor relationship was arranged for Howie.
I thought when all this was behind us, we could reminisce about it and maybe revel in all the good we managed to accomplish.
I thought you were upset because Mary caught us together.
I told him I had no idea how you accomplished what you did but you were a crystal ball of an asset to us.
I told you there was nothing going on between us.
I volunteered no more information, nor did he want it, doubly so now that he might be suspected of having ties to us because of the frequent inquiries he made.
I want the closeness of having them live with us.
I was awoken by the gunshot and both of us drove the roads around the perimeter of the property but neither heard nor saw his vehicle.
I was keenly surprised and disappointed years later to learn of their acts of persecution that make us tingle with shame, even while we glory in the courage and energy that gave us our "Country Beautiful."
I was surprised the FBI didn't press us on some of these more prominent cases.
I wasn't sure that bit of philosophy got us anywhere.
I went around back because Howie said the key he left with us fit the back door.
I, for one, would like to find a secure place in a medium size town, with all of us living nearby.
I'd feel much better if he returned with us but if he insists on staying, it's his choice.
I'd love to put this behind us but it takes time.
I'd wait for him come to us.
I'm happy you're among us.
I'm not sure anyone else in our group was in shape to drive home after our champagne celebration of the scary new life each of us agreed to embrace.
I'm sorry, but he really doesn't need it with what Mr. Cooms has done for all of us.
I'm sure both of us would have rather had our discussion in Molly's absence.
If he can get us better and timelier information and direct us to the best place to call in our tips, we're miles ahead.
If her powers grow enough, she'll not only prevent us from stitching up the tear between realms, but she'll open the doorway between the two worlds.
If pressure was applied to Daniel Brennan, it was never passed on to us.
If the Federal Government is continuing to dog us, they are doing so clandestinely, as we've heard nothing of their activities.
If they did, they'll be looking for us.
If this monster is truly stalking us, it's worth the risk of being more forward with Mr. Brennan.
If this other maniac Bryce could find us, so can he.
If we could convince him to give you free rein to helping us with him remaining totally in the dark, we'd both have what we want.
If you change your mind, you know where to find us then.
If you decide you want to go, you can leave with us tomorrow morning.
In addition, how food affects us unquestionably has a lot to do with genetic factors, and because everyone has a different genetic makeup, different foods affect each of us differently.
In retrospect, it was a miracle none of us fainted.
In spite of the lateness of the hour, the rest of us were far too hyper for sleep.
In the end, our fundamental challenge is to become better individuals, and technology offers little help on that front; it is up to each one of us to solve that for ourselves.
In truth, the raw information funneled to us was transmitted as received after passing through our office.
It hasn't been easy - for either of us.
It just took the rest of us a while to shake off the bonds.
It might be the last trip for all of us.
It shows us at our best and at our cruelest.
It takes two of us and an electronic apparatus to create the dream-like trance that lets one of us see episodes from the past.
It took us some time to ties his activities together.
It took us two hours to come ten miles from the airport and Julie had to direct him the last mile and she just got here herself.
It was easy for us to recognize Martha's pain with the subject.
It will be a new start for us.
It will make us all profoundly wise, wiser than the wisest person who has ever lived.
It would be our secret; how we started, how we were a party to something that never happened before in history, and probably never will again; what we did and why; just the five of us.
It's better for both of us, and it's the only real way I can protect you from him.
It's only a matter of time before the hand of the law is laid upon us.
It's our actions that put us in harm's way.
It's our home and you're more than a sitter or maid to all of us.
It's wandering around in circles and it's not at all afraid of us.
Jane, our GPS, as Betsy named her, didn't let us down and we found our friend's cabin at the end of a dusty road, hungry for dinner after a six hour drive.
Just don't tell us how you do it.
Just the three of us are in residence, soon to be two.
Last night we ran a session on the little boy Betsy texted us about.
Later the same day, he informed all of us he was getting needed help, as he put it.
Let us all be a happy family and love one another.
Let us be ready, for we may be sent for any minute.
Let us examine our prison and see what it is like.
Let us put the bar there.
Let us see your arts, and the sorceries you are able to perform.
Let us talk like gentlemen.
Let us wait until evening.
Let us walk up, and see where the doors lead to.
Let's see what Brennan can do for us.
Little conversation took place as each of us kept our thoughts to ourselves.
Locating us wasn't as a result of Julie's contest entry or from the break in of her apartment.
Lord knows how many crazies that will send after us!
Many large and fierce bears roam in the Valley of Voe, and when they can catch any of us they eat us up; but as they cannot see us, we seldom get caught.
Martha brewed coffee for us and hot chocolate for Howie.
Martha looked at it longingly while the three of us emptied one in no time with Quinn doening the lion's share.
Maybe do to us what they did to those victims.
Metallurgy gives us steel with which we can fashion either swords or plowshares.
Might he be nearly as close to us as Owen Bryce had been?
Molly appeared less shy around Howie than us, acting more casual toward him as if he was a member of her family.
Molly continued to hold Clair, even feeding her a bottle as Martha explained the mechanics of capturing mother's milk while the rest of us pretended not to listen.
Molly joined us, dressed in a new outfit Betsy purchased for her the prior day.
Molly remained enthralled with the baby and paid no attention to what the rest of us were doing.
Molly woke me with a rib crushing hug as she pointed to a single star-like dot of light gloriously hanging above us!
More precisely, we will probably teach machines to teach themselves how to process it for us and surface findings to us.
Mortgages for all of us were quickly processed through a private bank owned by one of Merrill Cooms' entities.
Mother usually knows what she is about, but she made a mistake this time; for you are sure to escape us unless you come too near, and you probably won't do that.
My dear, what I do, I do for us and our future.
Nanotechnology will give us metals that don't bend, or bend and yet remember their original shape.
Neither of us believed that to be the case.
Neither of us mentioned her conversations with Quinn, or the lack thereof.
Neither of us mentioned the subject since we left New Hampshire.
Neither of us was proficient at using a saw and we'd managed only two rungs when exhaustion caught up with us and the light faded for permanently.
New local acquaintances never questioned us about work and we displayed no interest in anything pertaining to crime or mayhem.
No eyes can ever see us together!
No handshake for Julie; she gave each of us a robust hug.
No human could ever do this, for in these purely computational matters, machines are vastly superior to us, and always will be.
No one had learned to duplicate his settings nor did any of us want to be so educated.
No, if one of us has to get snowed in up here, I'd rather it was me.
No, Pete spotted them afore they saw us, so we got away.
No. She addressed it to us and said she hates to do it but it's time to stop what we've all been working on for the last nine months.
None of us admitted to the possibility that the visions were real visits to the past.
None of us are gonna survive this!
None of us believed it was.
None of us can leave without the others.
None of us divulged what we did.
None of us felt the excitement of the afternoon.
None of us has the time to do that—but in the future, with my system, wisdom will operate at processor speeds.
None of us would admit it out loud, but each harbored the same thought.
None of us would win a beauty contest, would we?
Nonsense, you're not putting us out, but you're more than welcome to use the phone... and please call me Sarah.
Now that Molly had confessed more knowledge than any of us suspected, I felt obligated to tell Martha the full story before she learned it from overheard conversation or from Molly directly.
Oblivious as we were at the time, this meeting of the five of us was the beginning of a relationship that fused our lives together in a way we never would have imagined.
Once she was comfortable with us she opened up, displaying a sharp and inquisitive mind.
One of us chatted with Merrill Cooms weekly, simply keeping in touch with our benefactor.
One of us discovered this ability last fall, quite by accident.
Only he, unknown to any of us, was as yet absent from our lives.
Our GPS guided us up and down and around and around for the next hour and a half.
Our nervous quintet settled in, ordered wine for the drinkers and waited for one of us to start the conversation.
Our operation is unraveling in front of us.
Our visions continued to keep us awake long into the night.
Our work concerns electrostatic forces; force fields that surround us everywhere.
Perhaps we all have such remarkable abilities but are impaired in a way—maybe the rest of us have a disease to which these savants are immune.
Perhaps, Daniel Brennan could get out of the kitchen but the five of us would be left sitting on the stove.
Personally, the thought we might work together in one location, absent the hectic schedule presently exhausting us, made me giddy and set my mind a-tumble with possibilities.
Promise this will be between us.
Quinn joined us briefly for dinner.
Quinn joined us, looking more interested than earlier.
Quinn lit the large stove to stave off the cold as rain pounded the metal roof above us.
Remember when Claudette interrupted us in the kitchen?
Reverend Humphries made us all good Christians.
Several minutes stretched into ten or more with neither of us closing our eyes.
She agreed it was Julie's place to tell Howie about the letter she sent and how it impacted the rest of us.
She has great understanding of us.
She led us into a large room, dominated by a pot belly stove.
She looked at each of us in turn.
She looked at her husband, the most closed minded among us, when she spoke.
She thinks Alex is abandoning us.
She was eager to answer our questions and invited us into the building.
She was frightened out of her wits, like the rest of us but it's not like her to just drop out of sight, unless Quinn talked her into it.
She'd summoned Quinn home from California to tell us, unknowingly bringing him to his death.
She's hiding from us somewhere nearby.
She's put all of us in incredible danger!
Sit down and have breakfast with us.
Smallpox has been with us for thousands of years.
So don't let us keep it waiting a single minute.
So let us cease this talk of skull crushing and converse upon more pleasant subjects.
So now there are seven of us, counting Molly.
So tell us, how is your life in Arkansas?
So they threw their sabots, a kind of clog shoe, into the machinery to break it—an act that gave us the word sabotage.
So was Merrill Cooms who told us his investment was paltry compared to getting, as he called him, "that monster Cummings."
So where does that leave us in our quest to end disease?
So you sapped us to keep her from absorbing our power.
So, let us go on with the work that is before us.
Sofi, none of us are normal.
Sweetheart, let's not let this come between us.
Take us somewhere safe, where your father won't know where to find you.
Technology allowed us to peer deeper into the mysteries of the miniscule.
Technology has made us ever more productive.
Tell Brennan he has carte blanch to give us everything within reason we might need.
Thank you for inviting us.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thanks. It's been a bit rough lately for both of us.
That brings us back to the need to share data—and to our online example with Amazon, and our offline example with our salesperson.
That brings us back to the thousandfold increase in wealth, which the world will soon experience.
That's up to other people, not us, but I can tell you we'll miss you terribly and we'd love to have you stay a part of our family.
That's where the three of us grew up.
The 1960s brought us hip replacement, the artificial heart, a liver transplant, and a lung transplant.
The 1990s brought us a hepatitis A vaccine and artificial muscles.
The autumn equinox is almost upon us.
The cause of the destruction of the French army in 1812 is clear to us now.
The ceiling above us was divided with half the room beneath a concrete slab and the remainder under what appeared as thick planking, well out of reach to either of us.
The characters were as tangible as all of us standing in this room.
The choices we make to test options never before contemplated will tell us all kinds of new things about ourselves.
The dama-fruit is the most delicious thing that grows, and when it makes us invisible the bears cannot find us to eat us up.
The Emperor has deigned to summon us and the merchants.
The factors that enable us to solve for and eliminate disease are getting better all the time, like wind at our back, pushing us forward.
The four of us gathered in the Le Blanc living room as soon as greetings were exchanged.
The four of us retreated to the first floor, amid a rain of questions while he remained upstairs.
The four of us unanimously disagreed.
The four of us were put to shame in jeans and sweat shirts.
The house was far too large for us with five bedrooms and three baths but Betsy had plans!
The idea of any of us going out to California is another matter.
The idea was that it would be great to make machines that behaved like us and, through that, we could harness their abilities.
The issues are difficult because fundamentally none of us knows the ultimate effects.
The license plate was from Missouri and Howie managed to recite the numbers to us together with a detailed description of the car, an older Buick.
The meat was meant for outdoor grilling, but the rain kept us inside.
The mother dragon may come down and catch us here.
The next morning Molly beat us awake by enough time for her to make oatmeal and toast and hand deliver it to our bed.
The notion of scarcity is so ingrained in us and so permeates the world today, it is difficult to imagine a world without it.
The only thing that separates us from that world is this thing called civilization.
The Originals have a truce that's older than all of us combined.
The police detective helped us by perjuring himself.
The pure uniqueness of what we did virtually demands that there exist somewhere a record of what transpired and the terrible toll the results exerted on those of us involved.
The Red Sox were in town to take on the Yankees, a revered experience for us died hard fans.
The rest of us were equally distraught, especially Howie.
The rest of us were spiraling toward bankruptcy when Howie turned to Martha.
The rest of us will be along soon.
The same happenchance brought us the learning that children in schools with fluorescent lights get fewer cavities than those in schools with incandescent lighting.
The thick wood is not just at our door, nor the pond, but somewhat is always clearing, familiar and worn by us, appropriated and fenced in some way, and reclaimed from Nature.
The third room was for Howie who was busy on the telephone when four of us arrived.
The thought of us residing in utter blindness petrified me!
The three of us packed for three days only, as if so limiting our clothing changes would force our return more quickly.
The three of us were outside and secure in my new van without further incident.
The trip took us out of the District on the Maryland side as we headed west through picturesque rolling hills and farm lands.
The two of us took breaks and walked together, six paces, turn, six paces, turn, six paces, turn.
The unspeakable deeds of this animal who held us were well known to me, vicariously, through the notes of Howie's visits to his past.
The way Mr. Cooms cautioned us hit home with me.
The way we're operating is killing us.
The woman introduced herself as Annie Mae Wilkie and informed us she was the treasurer of Brockville, in addition to holding several other positions.
Then he's still after us?
Then I wondered if you were putting on a show for her to prove nothing was going on between us.
Then war can become obsolete, as foreign to us as slavery and public hangings.
There are no boundaries for us.
There are not many left of us old friends!
There are tests I could conduct that would give us direction and maybe some answers but he refuses to even discuss them.
There aren't many of us, and we're all over the world, but we're really close-knit.
There was helpful information for us to improve observation techniques.
There's this God-given gift hanging up there like a paper moon that only the five of us can make happen.
These people we point out to the authorities... they must hate us beyond all reason.
These tell us something about ourselves we didn't know before.
They allowed us to grind the spices, pick over the raisins and lick the stirring spoons.
They don't scare us much.
They haven't defeated us yet, and Jim is worth a whole army.
They won't expect us to go that way, and we can move around in the lava field without leaving tracks.
They're glad to get rid of us.
They've got mules to eat now, why would they want to follow us?
This Cooms guy said he'd fix us up any place we wanted, didn't he?
This goal is within our grasp—and with the vaccine presently priced at about thirty cents a child, shame on us for not ending polio once and for all.
This method will allow us to treat the entire world as a controlled experiment in retrospect.
This monster had managed to find Merrill Cooms, forcing us to acknowledge his abilities.
This was more evidence of Howie's ineptness at the everyday chores the rest of us took for granted.
This will likely not ever be perfect, but any insight it can offer us is a gain.
This will take us most of the way.
Those differences are part of what makes us unique.
Three centuries later, it became a hereditary right and came with a daily ration of two pounds of bread ("Hey, you don't expect us to cook the free grain, do you?") and occasionally included meat, olive oil, and salt.
Three of us sat around the table while Quinn continued to read in a corner rocker.
To ask Brennan directly might lead to us so I made up a story we were checking old cases to see if someone released from prison might have returned to this type of crime.
Today, it is hard for us to imagine what that time was like.
Together we let a dog choose us at the local humane society.
Tomorrow, this world will be destroyed if one—or both—of us don't step up.
Trade and the division of labor have given us vast amounts of wealth.
Traffic was light and Molly kept us entertained with her chatter.
Trust us to understand and maybe help.
Up until now, we have thought of the Internet as a place to store information, and we have depended upon search engines to help us find it.
Very possibly the theater of war will move so near to us that...
We adults passed banalities back and forth while Howie opened wine, of an obvious expensive vintage us Gustefsons only admired.
We all climbed the stairs as Quinn greeted us.
We all knew about his family, but the way he acted, it was as if he wanted to hide them from us.
We all make errors sometimes but those who care keep right on loving us.
We all serve the same cause of protecting those weaker than us from evil.
We are most horrified by that which strikes closest to us and reminds us of our own mortality.
We assumed Howie would beg for the five of us to be in attendance.
We can't expect them to make an exception for us.
We can't let this fall apart on us, Ben.
We consider ourselves very beautiful in appearance, for mother has told us so, and she knows.
We couldn't afford an apartment right now - even with the two of us.
We got a war to fight and women waiting for us.
We never-the-less decided to postpone discussion until the following day when, as Martha said, we had a night of rumination and our wits about us.
We only know that yesterday came a Rain of Stones upon us, which did much damage and injured some of our people.
We post pictures, the progress of our relationship, and people can follow our "us" page.
We were delighted when Brandon called and told us he was bringing a friend.
We were nearly across the empty floor before a clerk spotted us.
We were picked up by Martha and arrived just as Quinn and who'd ferried Howie pulled in behind us.
We were provided with a database that allowed us to identify various vehicles.
We'd give anything if you could stay with us.
We'll hear him the same as when he's in here, but he won't be disturbed by us when we talk.
We've skated around saying nothing since Ben played us Mr. Cooms' conversation.
What could possibly be more important to us than saving lives?
What is your sorcery good for if it cannot tell us the truth?
What's going to become of us now?
Whatever happens, it's not going beyond the five of us.
Whatever he says, there's a direct tie back to us!
Whatever is between us is only getting stronger.
Whatever their reasons, they treated us well.
When Howie is unable to verify what we do perhaps he'll let us investigate what's causing his mind to create these fantasies.
When I rose and asked if we were ready to begin another session, he was eager to join us on our trek to the basement.
When it's just us, you run.
When we first accepted Mr. Cooms' generous funding, we established this secure connection in case he ever had a need to contact us.
Which is why I want us to reach an agreement.
While Daniel Brennan was aware of us as a group, he and I were the only ones that spoke directly.
While Merrill Cooms knew there were five of us and had spoken to each, we'd never identified which one of us held the gift.
While none of us opted for involvement, Howie's insistence was the first time he hadn't acted like a tethered toddler.
While the rest of us breathed a sigh of relief, Howie remained uncomfortable.
While we were free to play with it, nothing was required of us.
While we'd both been witness scores of times, neither of us had paid much attention.
Why did they leave us; they were his friends?
Why don't we go out for supper tonight - just us and the kids?
Will Howie not love us anymore?
Will you kindly tell us which way your mother went to get on top the earth?
With his hands to his face, he burst into tears, shocking us.
With luck, he'll tell us if it's our man or some local hoods trashing Julie's place.
Would you slow down before you kill us both?
Yes, I am, but please don't let us do like that....
You all have been so nice to us, and we've enjoyed our stay.
You are coming with us, mademoiselle, he said to Traci.
You could drop Molly and me off at Logan airport for the ten o'clock flight to California, be in Philadelphia by early evening, and fly out to join us the next morning.
You didn't tell us it was her birthday.
You do enough for us anyway, she said.
You don't know anything about us.
You have any other magic tricks for us?
You have to promise whatever happens, it stays with us five of us.
You just have to trust us.
You know they're at war with each other and playing games with us here on earth.
You must want more from us; at least knowledge of whom we are and what exactly we do and how we do it.
You take care of yourself and come visit us sometime.
You want us to keep him or cut him loose?
You want us to prep a clean-up crew?
You would set all Russia against you and every one of us would feel ashamed to wear the uniform.
You're a smart guy and between us, maybe we could fix it so I could go back.
You're going to tell us Howie isn't a virgin anymore, aren't you?
You're the only one of us who is his longtime friend.
You're too nice to be involved with any of us.
You've always taken care of us.
You've asking nothing of us?
You've never given us cause to punish you.
Your parents will miss us.