It had sounded like a cry for help, to somebody who could read between the lines. No recovery program was easy, but the job Mind Controllers Anonymous...entrusted to its sponsors was more difficult than most. A drunk could get behind the wheel and do untold damage, but a rogue adept could do far more — and in a way that might not be discovered until the impact had spread exponentially. Like anything else, it was impossible to help people who didn’t want to be helped, and ‘convincing’ them was. I pulled myself up on the chain, lifting my aching feet in front of me as we connected. The shock screamed up my legs and into my hips. I was sure something snapped, maybe my ankle, but I hit the robot square in the chest, taking him off his feet and square into the door. His weight and velocity took him through the door like it was just a curtain of beads. My momentum took me along for the ride and we both hit and slid across the concrete floor of the room beyond for a few feet, the robot. "If ya wanna get rid o' me, just go ahead and put a pillow over my face, or gimme some sleeping pills, but don't put me in one o' those places. I seen too many of 'em. They treat people so bad, it makes 'em WANT to die." Mary and Aunt Mildred had asked him if a nurse would be suitable. "As long as she acts decent, yeah. I don't want some bitch that comes in and tells me that I'm puttin' on an act, to get sympathy, or pushing me around, and making me more miserable than I am, already."Mary and. "Is someone in his office now?" Yeah, Beth's folks just went in." And what do they think of all the fuss?" Well," Beth answered, "Dad was grinning before they went in, so I don't think they think this is much of a problem. Um, how about you?" Tommy," she looked at me. "Life would be a lot easier of you could make it through a whole school year without getting me called away from work."I just nodded as Beth and I headed to our first-hour classes.We were sitting in our first CAD drawing class.