the shield against dying inside, losing the soul, being the robot you were originally designed to be.

It was there, hidden in her closet. She stood alone with it at night in the dark closet, and with the dream—a piece of paper, an order blank—she was not so much alone....

Kelsey stood under the perfumed deodorant spray for three minutes. He ran out to the sink and sprayed his mouth with Noffend. And then he held his mouth open while Alice brushed his teeth carefully with Ivory-Glo. He zipped into his lounge suit of coral pink and ran to the Mirror.

"Well?" he asked.

"Very saleable, Kelsey," the Mirror said.

Kelsey sat down in the living room to wait for his favorite love.

Alice watched Kelsey's love, who didn't seem to see Alice at all when she came in, but then domestics had no meaning to anyone but their Masters. Gloria—golden flesh; warm and human love of Kelsey; love in a transparent gown tight and clinging to the flesh; warm and waiting love. Love-kissing and kissing—but Alice tried not to look at love.

Some time ago, she had liked looking at love, but now she felt fear, fear of love-kissing. She felt an intense hunger that had elements of terror blended with elements of awakening as she looked at it, trying not to look or feel any connection with it.

But she felt the desire, growing from evening to evening as she remembered or looked at, Kelsey and his love-loving and hugging and kissing—the desire to hold him, to feel him her own, so as never to let him leave, never let him escape, never let herself be taken from him and rebuilt and lost. And that was the cause of the desire, making it agonizingly stronger. And the sight of it—the sight and sound of the loving, the kisses, the motions of loving—were more and more unbearable.

Gloria was beautiful, so beautiful. She was slim and warm and tall and curved and human.

But Alice had to look just the same, as though there was some last justification in looking because it could never happen to Alice, because they were human and she was not.

They were sitting tightly entwined about one another on the couch.

"We ought to get a roommate permit real fast," Kelsey said in a whisper.

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