“Perfect brain.” Stan shrugs. “Wouldn’t have bet on that, but hey.”
“To clarify,” Em says, “it’s astandardbrain.”
Stan pouts. “Em,please. My ego’s fragile.”
“What I’m trying to say is, there’s no such thing as a perfect brain, Stan.”
“What about a perfect face?” Stan asks, batting his lashes at Em, who takes a good look at him.
“You have a symmetrical face,” she points out.
Stan frowns, gray eyes wide. “That’s it?”
Em doesn’t offer more than that, focusing instead on putting the headgear on me.
“Symmetrical?” Stan says. “Em, that’s thebeige-estof compliments.”
“It’s an anatomical observation,” she replies.
“Ugh, I’m oatmeal to you.” Stan groans. “You might as well say the most interesting thing about me is how I contain trace amounts of water.”
“You do contain water,” Em says.
Stan lifts his hands in surrender. “Doc, you’re killing me here.”
I breathe out through my nose, trying not to smile. Stan sees it anyway and looks proud about it.
“Oh, Nil likes it,” Stan says. “Look at him. He’s glowing with joy. My charm works on everyone eventually.”
“Hold still, Nil,” Em says, checking the sensor against my temple.
Stan scoots closer in his chair, voice dropping into a dramatic whisper. “Nil, if this thing picks up the secret naughty thoughts you have of me, I won’t get offended.”
“As I’ve said, it doesn’t detect thoughts,” Em says.
Stan snaps his fingers. “Dang it! There goes my plan to know ifNil thinks I’m hot or not.”
Rolling my eyes, I don’t say anything back.
“Please remain still, Nil,” Em says.
Stan leans back, sighing. “Em, he’s being scanned, not taking a mugshot. Let the man smile at me.”
“I’m not smiling,” I say.
“You are,” he says, smirk coming back to gloat. “It’s microscopic, but it’s happening.”
The scanner starts whirring like it did on Stan. It kinda freaks me out, so I focus on breathing. Stan focuses on disrupting that.
“Imagine,” he continues, “if the machine suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree because Nil here saw my nipples earlier. What would you do, Em? What’s your protocol for overwhelming sexual magnetism?”
“I didn’t stare there,” I snap back fast.
“There is no protocol,” Em adds right after me.
“There should be,” Stan says. “I’m a danger to myself and others.”
“Stan,” Em whispers, “please stop speaking.”
