Give a man his adult body and mind and turn him loose on
the problems which confronted him, and he would come up with adult
solutions. It was better that way.

But he hadn't called to discuss that. "There's another person living
in the Shelters," he said. "You found her three weeks before you found
me."

"So you've met her already? Fine. We were hoping you would." Borgenese
chuckled. "Let's see if I can describe her. Apparent age, about
twenty-three; that means that she was originally between twenty-six or
thirty-eight, with the probability at the lower figure. A good body,
as you are probably well aware, and a striking face. Somewhat
oversexed at the moment, but that's all right--so are you."

He saw the expression on Luis's face and added quickly: "You needn't
worry. Draw a parallel with your own experience. There were pretty
nurses all around you in retro-therapy, and I doubt that you noticed
that they were female. That's normal for a person in your position,
and it's the same with her.

"It works this way: you're both unsure of yourselves and can't react
to those who have some control over their emotions. When you meet each
other, you can sense that neither has made the necessary adjustments,
and so you are free to release your true feelings."

He smiled broadly. "At the moment, you two are the only ones who have
been retroed recently. You won't have any competition for six months
or so, until you begin to feel comfortable in your new life. By then,
you should know how well you really like each other.

"Of course tomorrow, or even today, we might find another person in
the Shelter. If it's a man, you'll have to watch out; if a woman,
you'll have too much companionship. As it is, I think you're very
lucky."

Yeah, he was lucky--or would be if things were actually like that.
Yesterday he would have denied it; but today, he'd be willing to
settle for it, if he could get it.

"I don't think you understand," he said. "She took the same name that
I did."

Borgenese's smile flipped over fast, and the other side was a frown.
For a long time he sat there scowling out of the screen. "That's a
hell of a thing to tell me before breakfast," he said. "Are you sure?
She couldn't decide on a name before she left."

"I'm sure," said Luis, and related all the details of last night.

The counselor sat there and didn't say anything.

* * * * *

Luis waited as long as he could. "You can tr