Green retreated into another room, but from his footsteps I could tell he hadn’t gone far. Sarah twitched as I knelt down next to her. The scalpel gleamed in the room’s dim light and I inspected it’s edge – more out of habit than anything else. It was self-sharpening and was always honed to razor sharpness.

“Hi Sarah,” I said to the doll as I focused on her skull. “My name’s Edison. I’m going to make you feel better.”

Her eyes – a moment before staring unfocused at the ceiling – suddenly snapped to the right to look at me. I drew back suddenly, surprised. She smiled.

“Long time, no see, Trey,” she said, her voice smokey and smooth. No wonder the meatbag been attracted to her.

It was then that I noticed the palm of her left hand was facing me, at it’s center a shiny, glowing hemisphere encircled by a titanium ring.

Particle-beam emitter registered in my neural network, an instant before a flash of light hit me in the chest. A second or two later I landed outside in the doctor’s small front yard.