he
control glove and sprayed on nipples. She was finished.

He shucked off the mask and laid aside the spray gun. "Look at
yourself."

She went to the mirror and turned in front of it. She smoothed her hands
across her face and smiled with pleasure. "It feels like flesh."

"It is, almost. Tomorrow you'll bleed there if you cut yourself."

She nodded. "Is that all?"

"Except for instructions, yes."

She looked at him with curious shyness and hurriedly slipped into her
clothing. She hadn't minded nudity before, when she wasn't as lovely as
she wanted to be. What she didn't know was that Jadiver liked her better
as she had been.

* * * * *

Dressed, she came back to him. "What are those instructions?"

He tore off two envelopes attached to the container. He checked the
spray gun to determine how much had been used.

"Pseudo-flesh is highly poisonous," he said, handing her the envelopes.
"The tablets in the white package neutralize the toxic effects. Take one
every eight hours. And don't forget to take it, unless you want to end
up in convulsions on the floor."

"I'll remember. When do I begin?"

"In three hours. And now for some advice I know you don't want. You can
keep yourself as you are for two months. But you'll be healthier if you
get rid of the pseudo-flesh as soon as you can."

She looked longingly at the face in the mirror. "How do I do that?"

"When you're ready, take the tablets in the green package, one every
hour until the pseudo-flesh is absorbed. After it's gone, take three
more at the same interval. The total time should be about thirteen
hours." She was not paying attention. He eased between her and the
mirror. "Get a complete checkup before you try this again. It takes
years off your life."

"I know that. How many?"

"I can't say exactly. It's a body, pseudo-flesh weight ratio, plus some
other factors that no one knows anything about. I'd estimate that you'll
lose about three years for every two weeks you keep it."

"It's worth it," she said, gazing again into the mirror. She turned away
in indecision. "I've always known Burlingame was mine, even if I wasn't
pretty. Now I'm not so sure, after this."

It wasn't exactly Burlingame she was concerned with, thought Jadiver.
For a while she was going to be beautiful beyond her expectations. The
irony was that almost any robot outshone her temporary beauty. She was
jealous of machines that had no awareness of