She's looking for more advice

You buy a bunch of spraypaint cans at an Ace Hardware Store in one of the suburbs you reach right before Sacramento and, while the other girls get to work redecorating the van to look like anything other than a church bus, Sara drags you to a nearby park and sits you down at a picnic table.

Which is fine. The park looks deserted and you have nothing against outdoor sex.

Until Erwin shows up.

From Sara's expression, you're pretty sure this isn't a surprise to her although it is to you. Could the whole gay thing have been a setup? It's pretty hard to believe. Still, there's a lot going on that's a lot harder to believe than that.

"We need to talk to you," Erwin says.

"Okay."

He traces his foot in the dirt and you look around to make sure no church fanatics are sneaking up on some weird signal. Nobody else seems to be in sight, however, and Erwin clears his throat.

"I'm not comfortable being gay."

"I can understand that," you say. "After all, you've spent your whole life hearing how you and people like you are somehow inherently evil."

"And I'm afraid of a rebound relationship," Sara puts in. "After all, I've been waiting for Erwin for years and, all of a sudden I learn that's not possible and there's another guy."

"Are you saying you don't want to stay with our group?" If they wanted to flee, they could have done it without dragging you to the park... unless they seriously think Erwin can tackle you or something. Which wouldn't have been impossible before you did a little working out and self-defense training but now seems unlikely.

They both shake their heads. "We have noplace else to go," Erwin admits. "You know I can't go back to the church. And my family is probably worse. I seriously think my father and brothers would rather kill me than have any of the neighbors learn that I'm gay."

"Okay," you say. "So you stay with us."

"But the thing is..." Erwin does more of that foot in the dust thing. "Well, we haven't lost our faith in God, just our faith that our former church is truly following in the footsteps of the Lord."

You nod. "No problem. You're entitled to your beliefs."

"And we heard a little about what you're doing," Sara blurts out. "It sounds blasphemous. And if it is, well, we have to stop you."

"Stop us how?"

"However we can." You can tell Erwin is trying to put his most intimidating tone into his voice. It isn't very convincing.

"Okay, I understand," you say. "First, we're not doing anything blasphemous. Let's say our theory is correct and that we are, in fact, living in a simulation. From your perspective, how is that blasphemous. You hold that a creator brought the universe into existence through the 'Word,' right? And computer programs are words. So there's nothing blasphemous about that. And anyone who created the sim would be, by definition, omnipotent in the universe he created as well as omniscient, at least potentially. And, even if you don't want to call the creator entity 'God,' there's no reason why the God you do believe in couldn't have motivated that creator to launch the sim."

"But," Sara points out, "you're attempting to use the tools of the Lord to manipulate the universe."

"Isn't that what prayer is? Appeals to the Lord for some boon to humanity or to particular individuals. And, if using the language of computer programming is more effective than other forms of prayer, shouldn't we discover this? Isn't it what your God would want?"

"You manage to twist everything to suit your purposes," Erwin says.

You put an arm around him. "Look, Erwin. We're like you... cast out from the world we once belonged to. The girls have lost their assistantships because they wanted to help me. Crystal lost her job. We're on the run because there's a group out there, a group you admit has lost track of their path to the Lord and replaced it with a search for power, that wants to stop us. Well, maybe they will stop us. They've got more money than us, they've got more people than us, they've got connections to police and government officials. But nothing is going to stop us from attempting to discover the truth. If your faith is as strong as I think it is, you want to discover the truth as well, and to share it rather than hide it away and use it to promote your own petty prejudices and your personal power."

"Erwin," Sara says. "Go away. I need to... talk to Mike alone for a while."

"Are you sure?" Erwin asks.

"I've never been more sure of anything."