The narrator recalls interviewing Harmonee in Korea about the war, learning how fear and lived experience defied statistical “rarity.” Years later, Mom reveals the hidden truth: soldiers assaulted Harmonee and Aunt Chesuk; a bomb killed their family while the sisters survived because they were being raped. Harmonee’s dark, protective “pessimistic optimism” becomes a guiding theme.

Linking this to Dad’s low-baseline philosophy, the narrator pivots to the present: after a voicemail from the Virginia Covid Team about Eugene’s exposure, Shannon and Detective Janus—both with family hit hard by Covid—abruptly depart, spraying themselves as they go.

Mom spends minutes on the phone with the health department but learns nothing identifiable due to privacy laws: no name, time, location, or condition of the positive contact. Frustrated by a system that presumes the living yet withholds information, Mom notes the only actionable outcome: Eugene must isolate for fourteen days, even excused from court, with exceptions only for testing and medical care.

The narrator senses ominous trade-offs—a “monkey’s paw” reprieve—then reexamines the exposure source. Remembering that Eugene saw multiple therapists Saturday, the narrator realizes John worked at Henry’s House that day. John finds no tracer messages, but the connection prompts the narrator to pull over, concluding that if this inference is right, it could reshape their understanding of where Adam is, with whom, and why.