too, since that synthetic nervous system is an otherwise
unused part of my brain."

"There were two other victims before me," said Jadiver.

"There were, but they were derelicts--dead, really, before the
experiment got started. They lasted a few hours. I tried to help them,
but it was too late. It was not pleasant for me."

* * * * *

Not only was it a friend; it had a vital interest in keeping him alive.
He could trust it, had to. After what had happened, doubt wasn't called
for.

Jadiver rubbed his weary eyes. "That shield I used," he said. "Did it
work?"

The robot laughed--Jadiver's laughter. It had copied him in many ways.
"It worked to your disadvantage. The circuit signals got through to me,
but I couldn't send any back until Doumya Filone chipped off part of
your disguise. Then I spoke to you. Before that, I had to misdirect the
police. I built up a complete and false history for you and kept them
looking where you weren't."

If he had thought, he would have known it had to be that way. The police
were efficient; they could have taken him long ago without the aid of
the circuit. But it had seemed so easy and they had trusted the
robot--had to where the circuit was concerned. No man could sit in front
of a screen and interpret the squiggles that meant his hand was touching
an apple.

Jadiver sat down. The strain was over and he was safe, bound for some
far-off place.

"The police used you, though not as much as you used them," he said.
"Still, they didn't develop the theory."

"They didn't. There was a man on Earth, a top-notch scientist. He worked
out the theory and set up the mechanism. He had a surgical assistant, a
person who would never be more than that on Earth because she wasn't
good on theory, though she was a whiz at surgery. She realized it and
got his permission to build another machine and take it to Venus.
Originally it was intended to accumulate data on the workings of the
human nervous system.

"On Venus, things were different. Laws concerning the rights of
individuals are not so strict. She got the idea of examining the whole
nervous system at once, not realizing what it meant because it had never
been done that way. She discussed it with officials from the police
department who saw instantly what she didn't--that once an extensive
circuit was in a human, there was no way to get it out, except by death.
They had no objections and were quite willing t