Read Online Starfish by Peter Watts - Free Book Online Page A

piss for a while..."
    Somehow, he got the feeling that Kevin was hurting more than he was. It didn't make sense.
    It's okay, Shadow told him softly. It's not your fault. They just don't understand.
    Kevin was kicking him again, but Fischer could hardly feel it. He tried to say something, anything, that would make his tormentor feel a little better, but his motor nerves were still fried.
    He could still cry, though. Different wiring.

    * * *

    It was different this time. It started out the same, the scans and the samples and the beatings, but then they took him out of the line and cleaned him up, and put him in a side room. Two guards sat him down at a table, across from a dumpy little man with brown moles all over his face.
    "Hello, Gerry," he said, pretending not to notice Fischer's injuries. "I'm Dr. Scanlon."
    "You're a shrink."
    "Actually, I'm more of a mechanic." He smiled, a prissy little smile that said I've just been very clever but you're probably too stupid to get the joke. Fischer decided he didn't like Scanlon much.
    Still, his type had been useful before, with all their talk about competence and criminal responsibility . It's not so much what you did, Fischer had learned, as why you did it. If you did things because you were evil, you were in real trouble. If you did the same things because you were sick, though, the doctors would sometimes cover for you. Fischer had learned to be sick.
    Scanlon pulled a headband out of his breast pocket. "I'd like to talk to you for a little while, Gerry. Would you mind putting this on for me?"
    The inside of the band was studded with sensor pads. It felt cool across his forehead. Fischer looked around the room, but he couldn't see any monitors or readouts.
    "Great." Scanlon nodded to the guards. He waited until they'd left before he spoke again.
    "You're a strange one, Gerry Fischer. We don't run into too many like you."
    "That's not what the other doctors said."
    "Oh? What did they say?"
    "They said I was typical. They said, they said lots of the one-fifty-one's used the same rationale ."
    Scanlon leaned forward. "Well you know, that's true. It's a classic line: 'I was teaching her about her awakening sexuality, doctor.' 'It's the parents' job to instruct their children, doctor.' 'They don't like school either, but it's for their own good.'"
    "I never said those things. I don't even have kids."
    "No you don't. But the point is, pedophiles often claim to be acting in the best interests of the children. They turn sexual abuse into an act of altruism, if you will."
    "It's not abuse. It's what you do if you really love someone."
    Scanlon leaned back in his chair and studied Fischer for a few moments.
    "That's what's so interesting about you, Gerry."
    "What?"
    "Everyone uses that line. You're the only person I've met who might actually believe it."

    * * *

    In the end, they said they could take care of the charges. He knew there had to be more to it than that, of course; they'd make him volunteer for some sort of experiment, or donate some of his organs, or submit to voluntary castration first. But the catch, when it came, wasn't any of those things. He almost couldn't believe it.
    They wanted to give him a job.
    "Think of it as community service," Scanlon said. "Restitution to all of society. You'd be underwater most of the time, but you'd be well-equipped."
    "Underwater where?"
    "Channer Vent. About forty kilometers north of the Axial Volcano, on the Juan de Fuca Rift. Do you know where that is, Gerry?"
    "How long?"
    "One year minimum. You could extend that if you wanted to."
    Fischer couldn't think of any reason why he would, but it didn't matter. If he didn't take this deal they'd stick a governor in his head for the rest of his life. Which might not be that long, when you thought about it.
    "One year," he said. "Underwater."
    Scanlon patted his arm. "Take your time, Gerry. Think about it. You don't have to decide until this afternoon."
    Do it, Shadow urged. Do it or they'll