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Show "Do they hurt?" Maia interrupts. "What?" he stops, a little annoyed. "The electrodes. Do they hurt the dog?" "There are no pain receptors in the brain," Boaz answers flatly. "Does it bother you?" "No, I just wanted to know." She pulls a long strand of hair out of her face. "I just wanted to know, that's all. Go on with your story." "This is not a story, Maia." "I know," she answers quickly. "I'm sorry." "The problem, he begins again, "is to determine just where the electrodes are. It's not easy to implant them precisely, and there's only one way to determine exactly where they are." "What's that?" "By direct inspection of the neural region." He talks more quickly, enunciating the scientific syllables almost too clearly, as i f to conceal in jargon something he does n6t quite wnat her to understand. She sits s t i l l , saying nothing. "The procedure is terminal," he says finally. "I knew that," she says f l a t l y , and Boaz realizes that she is not going to cry, that her eyes are wide all the time. "I am going to tell you how we are going to do'the termination," he says, "just so you'll know". Maia sits motionless. "All right." |