[He looks guilty, and Prior supposes that must mean he's kind. He supposes, too, that that must mean even a token butler can tell something's wrong with Prior's scans. All those fuzzy white patches and treasonous black ones other people don't have.]
They could use that in the clinic back in Olympia. The head physician's from the '60s, she's wonderful but if I'm a Neanderthal that makes her practically fossilised. It could help people.
[And, because this stranger's probably not going to look any less awkward until someone broaches the subject, Prior continues, somehow nonchalant and dramatic at once:]
I of course am beyond help, but one must think of those more fortunate than oneself. [There, subject broached.] So, tell me about this Top Secret coffee?
no subject
[He looks guilty, and Prior supposes that must mean he's kind. He supposes, too, that that must mean even a token butler can tell something's wrong with Prior's scans. All those fuzzy white patches and treasonous black ones other people don't have.]
They could use that in the clinic back in Olympia. The head physician's from the '60s, she's wonderful but if I'm a Neanderthal that makes her practically fossilised. It could help people.
[And, because this stranger's probably not going to look any less awkward until someone broaches the subject, Prior continues, somehow nonchalant and dramatic at once:]
I of course am beyond help, but one must think of those more fortunate than oneself. [There, subject broached.] So, tell me about this Top Secret coffee?