“I spent a year there. I wouldn’t describe it
as comfortable.”
“The rooms aren’t bad. Comfortable beds and
chairs, TVs, radio, heated and air conditioned. I’ve read the
monitor reports. Everyone gets fed reasonably well, plenty of
water, necessary medical care.”
“Ever tried out a Skeen Sigil?”
She nodded. “You have to when you become an
adjunct of the Council.”
She was an adjunct of the Council? No wonder
she was so unhappy about his project.
“For how long?” he asked.
“Ten minutes, maybe.”
“What did it feel like?”
She paused a moment. “Strange. Empty. Like I
was missing a piece of myself. As though I’d suddenly become blind
or deaf.”
“They sentenced me to a year there, wearing a
sigil. Want to imagine what that was like? And did they tell you
about the side-effects of pr
