Lawn hesitated briefly in the doorway before walking slowly toward the bed and the figure standing behind it. Everything felt surreal. "Let me make love to you, Lawn. Trust me." "I do trust you. It's just the fact that..." "That I'm not a real man?" Deep moved to the side of the bed. "Close your eyes, Lawn. Give me a chance. If I can't make you happy, I promise to delete all references from my memory and never broach the subject again." His memory? "Deep, are you recording this?" "No." "But it'll be on the databanks." "No," he repeated. "I decide what will be imprinted on the memory coils." "But if you experience it..." "I decide what will be imprinted on the memory coils," he reiterated. She frowned. "There are programs that can rebuild deleted or overwritten files." smiled. "True. But how can the Bureau find what's never appeared in the first place? I am the ship, Lawn. I make the rules, not follow them." 86 She'd reached the edge of her bed. "Do you also keep your promises?" He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off of her.
