It was about the size of a jawbreaker and made of red rubber. It was otherwise featureless, save for a single metal hook that dangled from it.“Open ...ide.”I obeyed, opening my mouth as wide as possible, letting her place the ball into my still dry mouth, the hook dangling in front of my chin.“Now close, baby. You’re going to want to keep from dropping that no matter what. Understand?”I simply nodded, not quite sure of what she planned, but fearing the worst.“I should warn you, I am very. “He was almost too hot for me to hold onto.”“She’s right,” Naia added, kneeling by Abella’s side. She ran her hands gently over Abella’s skin. “Whoever summoned that creature has use of some powerful magic.”“We know where it came from.” Mike explained what he and Tink had found in the trash can. “The fact that it came from the trash and didn’t just attack me when I walked in the door means something, but I have no idea what. The Society clearly wants this house, otherwise they would have just. I worried about this for a while, but when I mentioned it to Tranq, he said, "Don't worry about it. Their sexual drive scores, after having been denied sex because of the devices, tended to jump half a point up, offsetting their losses. We just don't tell people about that."Many people on the Burgundy were nervous about our emergence from hyperspace, most for different reasons. The first time we were stopping longer than normal. We needed to organize things with the ships from Earthat that left. ”Then Babble Tower time again ... bundles of nerve fibers, something called Singularity, connecting brain hemispheres, new neurons in the hippocampus... I held up both palms. “Bobsy, I don’t understand 95% of what you’re saying. But that’s okay, I can find a translator. Nod if I have this part right -- Silicon Valley rich guys may be paying for illegal human experimentation. To extend life - their own lives eventually. And they may be using one of your patents in the process.”He nodded, annoyed.