“What we can do for pleasure, for punishment — we haven’t even tapped the surface. That’s what I wanted to do,” he explained. “Tap the surface and go under it. Dreams, Dallas. Needs, fears, fantasies. All my life, music’s been what’s moved me to… everything: hunger, passion, misery, joy. How much more intense would all that be if you could just get inside, really use the mind to exploit and explore?” “So you worked on it,” she prompted. “Devoted yourself to it.” “Three years. More really, but three solid on the design, experimentation, perfecting. Every penny I had went into it. I’ve got next to nothing left now. That’s why I needed backing. Why I needed you.” “And Mavis was your link to me, and from me to Roarke.” “Look.” He lifted his hands, rubbed them over his face, dropped them onto the table. “I like Mavis, and she’s got a real spark. Yeah, I’d have used her if she was bland as a droid, but she’s not.
