EPISODE 6: THE RECRUITER ## PART ONE: BEFORE ### CHAPTER 1: THE GIRL Sarah Anne Collins was born in 1979 to parents who believed in rational living. Her father was an engineer; her mother was a high school chemistry teacher. Their home ran on logic, schedules, and evidence-based decision making. Religion was viewed as superstition; emotion was something to be managed, not indulged. Sarah grew up smart, capable, and fundamentally confused about her inner life. She excelled academically, following the path laid out for her: good grades, prestigious university, practical degree. She married at twenty-three, a sensible choice—a man her parents approved of, stable and successful. But something was missing. Sarah didn't have words for it because words for such things weren't encouraged in her household. She just knew that the life she was supposed to want didn't feel like enough. Her marriage ended when she discovered her husband's affair. The divorce was civilized, as everything in her family was civilized. No one asked how she felt; they asked about the financial settlement. Then her father died. Heart attack, unexpected, gone before anyone could say goodbye. At the funeral, Sarah stood dry-eyed because that was what was expected. Later, alone in her apartment, she broke. --- ### CHAPTER 2: THE SEARCH The grief cracked something open. For the first...