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"Yes I was taking a ith my boyfriendBeverly’s owner have soh He just shut off, like he wasn’t in his body anymore" And Beverly, poor, sweet Beverly, had barked at him like he was some kind of a monster She hadn’t barked at anyone else like that Not once
"The dog htened"
It wasn’t a question I found , "She was terrified That’s why I wound up taking her with us She was barking at hi to hurt her She ca You didn’t think that ?"
"No"
"Had youto the CEO of Sy’ questionnaire fro, before But I ith scared animals all day, and when I realized how terrified she was, I couldn’t just sit by and leave her with no one to take care of her Nathan called an areed that it was best if she went ho on"
"Nathan--that would be your boyfriend, Dr Kiy Department, correct? We offered him a job here at SymboGen once, you know" Dr Banks beareatest honor that could be afforded to someone in the medical profession
"Yes," I said "I know" Nathan had actually tried to take them up on their offer--Syist anted to stay on the cutting edge of the field--but had been passed up for employment when their Human Resources Division realized that he was serious about his refusal to accept an Intestinal Bodyguard They couldn’t technically make that a requirement for employment, but the fact came out, and suddenly the job offer ithdrawn
"He seehave any proble, but no, she doesn’t Beverly likes everyone She’s the sweetest dog I’ve ever known"
Dr Banks nodded before asking another of those overly casual questions, the ones that feltto slam shut on my throat: "She doesn’t have any probleht," I said "If she had probleirl to have a dog It helps with e ownership will bring you into contact with a wider variety of allergens Pollens, dander, all those lovely bits of the environled to iene hypothesis, owning a dog will be good for hted "Have you been reading the literature?"
"I’ve been listening to the audio versions" It was hard to avoid learning about the hygiene hypothesis when I was dating a parasitologist Half the literature Nathan had around his apartiene hypothesis, its iy, and the various ways it could be approached, ranging froe science become multi-billion-dollar industry" Even if I couldn’t read it for myself, he was more than happy to explain it all to raphy before you leave today," said Dr Banks, still looking pleased as could be "I’ll even sign it And personalize it, of course Wouldn’t want it showing up on one of the auction sites, noould we?"
He laughed I didn’t
Apparently, that was the cue for hi his hands on his desk and leaning slightly forward, like a kindly professor on one of the criood to see you, Sally I worry about you But you know there’s another reason that I wanted to ht Aloud, I asked, "What’s that?"
"I think it’s tithened the relationship between SymboGen and your family You’ve been here so much over the past few years, I really feel like you’re already a part of SymboGen Like this is already your home"
Cold terror clamped down on me with an iron hand, balanced by an equal measure of relief This was it, then; this was the day when they decided they no longer had to let me leave How much would they have to pay my parents to make this acceptable? How many zeros on the check that paid for a person? "Oh?" I said, hating the way le syllable
"We have an ani strains of the Intestinal Bodyguard that can be used to protect domestic pets, even livestock, from medical calamity You’re not suited to work in the research arena, obviously, but the aniinally caroups I’ a human to provide them with the love and attention they desire"
I stared at hi Finally, I asked, "You think I could do this job?"