They had been severely cautioned at the outset never to disparage his effort in any way, and never to use the term “moron.” They had to appreciate him for what he was, a transplanted brain who was learning their ways. He did have the valuable emotion that they had to study, and they might even discover other ways in which he could be useful. The reality was that the starfish had needed his excellent human body as a host, and made a deal to obtain it amicably. They needed the wife, Lida, to cooperate, and she would not do so if she believed her former husband was unhappy in his new situation. So they had to keep him happy, and make sure that Lida knew it. That chore had fallen primarily to Aliena herself, as the robots really were not equipped to do it. But she had enlisted Explora to take up his attention in certain respects, because of her affinity for those respects. He had treated Explora in a manner she had not expected, enabling her not only to achieve maturity, but also to win the race and gain the right to breed at such time as she chose.
