he guinea pig was supposed to fall in
love with, so the guinea pig could be nice and telepathic and all the
other experimenters could congratulate themselves. But whoever heard
of a scientist falling in love with a guinea pig? It was fate. And
fate was awful. Malone had often suspected it, but now he was sure.
Now he saw things from the guinea pig's side, and fate was terrible.

"But Ken," the experimenter said. "It isn't like that at all."

"It is, too," Malone said. "It's even worse, but that'll have to wait.
When I have some more to drink it will get worse. Watch and see."

"But Ken--" Lou hesitated, and then went on. "Don't feel sad about
being an experiment. We're all experiments."

"I'm the guinea pig," Malone said. "I'm the only guinea pig. You said
so."

"No, Ken," she said. "Remember, all of us in the PRS got early
training when it was new and untried. Some of those methods weren't as
good as we now have them; that's why a man like your boss sometimes
tends to have a little trouble."

"Sure," Malone said. "But I'm your guinea pig. You made me dance
through hoops and do tricks and everything just for an experiment.
That's what." He took another swallow of his drink. "See?" he said.
"It's getting worse already."

"No, it's not," Lou said. "It's getting better, if you'll only listen.
I wasn't given this job, Ken. I volunteered for it."

"That isn't any better," Malone said morosely.

"I volunteered because I--because I liked you," Lou said. "Because I
wanted to work with you, wanted to be with you."

"It's more experimenting," Malone said flatly. "More guinea-pigging
around."

"It isn't, Ken," Lou said. "Believe me. Look into my mind. Believe
me."

Malone tried. A second passed...

And then a long time passed, without any words at all.

"Well, well," Malone said at last. "If this is the life of a guinea
pig, I'm all for it."

"I'm all for guinea pigs' rights," Lou said. "Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit of Me."

"Agreed," Malone said. "How about that crisis, by the way? Are you
going to have to leave suddenly again?"

Lou stretched lazily on the couch. "That's all over with, thank God,"
she said. "We had to get our agent out of Miami Beach, and cover his
tracks at the same time."

"Tricky," Malone said.

"Very," Lou said.

"But--" Malone blinked. "Wait a minute," he said. "Your agent? You
mean you had Governor Flarion killed?"

Lou nodded soberly. "We had to," she said. "That paranoid min