Jamie leaned over. And your perfect world?Mmm, Helen smiled. Perfect is complicated. Hard to explain.Give it a shot, I prodded her.Its beautiful is the best word to describe it, she said.Jamie and I nodded.Everything that isnt necessary to getting what we want is gone, she said, eyes closing, as if she was vividly imagining. Theres an abundance of it all, thanks to science. Food is everywhere and it overflows and theres nothing to worry about because we have and we want and we take. Were, and by we I mean people, were everywhere and we spill over into one another and were all knit together, physically and mentally. Its an exquisite landscape of things that dont ever run out to see and touches and tastes and smells and mating and eating and mindless fighting and eating-mating and fighting-eating and fighting-Okay, I said, interrupting. I paused, then when I couldnt think of what to say. Okay.Helen reached down to her plate, used a fingertip to wipe up a bit of frosting, and popped it into her mouth, sucking it off.Okay, I said, still at a bit of a loss for words.Thats a mental image thats going to be with me forever, Jamie said, dropping his head down until his face was in his hands.I dont see where ethics come into that world, I said, more to see Jamies reaction than out of curiosity.No, Jamie said. Dont-The closer you get to perfection, the further you get from ethics, Helen said, as if it was common sense.
