Me and Zoe spent a few moments in silence – her absorbing everything I’d told her, and me wishing I could forget all those mistakes I made.

“So, why is it that we couldn’t inject her with the antidote before she’s born? Inject it into the mother, or something?”

“No, no, no, that wouldn’t’ve worked,” I said. “If I had done that, the antidote would’ve been worthless. The womb is a very protective place for an unborn baby – especially one as abnormal as Letrodacta. The antidote would’ve been seen as a threat, and not come anywhere near to the baby. So, I had to do it after she was out of the womb and at her most vulnerable for the antidote to work properly.”

“Fair enough. Now, how do we get to that fixed point again?”

Oh, boy, I thought. She is not gonna like this.

“That’s the thing, Zoe. We have to wait.”

“Until?”

“Until the very day she’s born. And that’s not for another 123 years.”

She gawped at me.
“WHAT?!”

“But, luckily for us…” I grinned, “…we have all the time in the world…”