s as blank as usual to me, but a piece of
software I installed on my eyes starts flashing up a translucent yellow
warning sign, pointing out that he's making tiny involuntary
movements--a momentary flicker of the cheek here, a curl of the lip
there. Nothing a human could consciously spot, but my eyes have a
sufficient refresh rate and resolution to pick up that sort of thing.
The bottom line is that he's uncharacteristically uncomfortable, for
whatever reason.

"You know what I mean," I continue. "He was hardly violent. Don't you
think that actually having him taken out was kind of overkill on
Godin's part?"

"It's not our job to question our clients' motives, only their ability
to pay. Besides, he was a liability. Copyright violation is one of
the most serious crimes there is these days, given the structure of our
fragile economy." He gets up and makes his way to a shelf filled with
various photos and figurines, where he pours himself a shot of whiskey
from an expensive looking decanter.

As he glances back at me, I decline his offer of the same with a subtle
shake of my head. Call me paranoid, but in my line of work, I never
could feel comfortable if I was anything less than a hundred percent
sober.

"They couldn't just have him running around pirating their intellectual
property," Mike continues.

"But it's _food_," I protest. "It's not like it's a rich kid's luxury
like music or films. There are homeless people I've seen eating decent
meals thanks to him."

"There are plenty of public domain staple foods. The homeless can eat
the same handouts as the starving children in Africa: rice, grains,
vegetables, pulses. No one's trying to stop people from eating. They
have more than enough to live on." He takes a sip of his drink. "All
Godin want to do is ensure the uniqueness of the very specific dishes
served in their chain of five-star restaurants, so don't give me any of
that melodramatic bollocks about starving homeless people just because
they have to eat boiled rice and steamed vegetables instead of _foie
gras en brioche_."

"It still doesn't feel right."

"Which brings me to my next point. Have you given any more thought to
my offer? Most people would kill for another free synaptic implant."

"That all depends on the implant. The uplink to the Mesh and the map
are all well and good, but I'm still not sure about suppressing my
emotions. It just seems so... inhuman."

"As opposed to all