"Look, I'm sorry if it bothers you, but that's the way it is." said Roberto, cleaning his fingernails nonchalantly. "You've always been free to leave. I'm not holding you."
   "But you are, through my heart." answered Claressa. "You know that I love you."
   "What do you know of love? Just because you distract yourself from your problems by focusing your attention on me, you call it love. That is not love, that is self-inflicted blindness."
   "Please, Roberto. Don't be cruel."
   "I'm not being cruel. I'm being realistic. You're the one demanding, not me. I demand nothing from you. I only accept what you choose to give."
   "Don't you feel the need for a commitment?" she asked.
   "Not at all. I take what life gives and ask nothing more."
   "But you led me into this."
   "I did not. You led yourself into it by putting aside your sense of reality and replacing it with a foolish dream that has nothing to do with reality. I never asked that you surrender yourself to me. I only accepted what you offered."
   "But people don't take without giving back."
   "You took everything I gave you and demanded more than I gave. It is this hunger in you to escape reality that is the problem." He stood. "Now I have to see a client. Do as you wish, but don't make further demands on me unless you want me to shut the door in your face." He turned around and walked away, leaving her to start crying. He made his way over to the table where the man he had spotted was just seated. "Are you Henry Jacklin?"
   "Yes. You must be Roberto, the man I was told about."
   "Yes. I understand that you have a problem."
   "I sure do. Won't you please be seated?"
   Roberto sat and studied the man. "What seems to be your problem?"
   "Well, I have this business partner who keeps blaming me for trouble we had with a certain client. Can you help me?"
   "Perhaps. Is it your partner or the client that you want adjusted?"
   "Well, if the trouble with the client were solved, then I wouldn't have trouble with my partner."
   "It sounds logical. Would you detail the problem you experienced?"
   "Well, we signed a parts supply contract as subcontractors on an
installation. We supplied all the parts listed according to specs. These were installed and failed. They blame us for the faulty parts, when it was their parts that caused the failure."
   "What type of product are we talking about?" Roberto inquired. "Robotic electronics."
   "Can you be more specific?"
   "Discriminator logic circuits. Artificial intelligence. It was their buffer system that was at fault. It did not attenuate properly to the specs supplied. This caused the units to make errors in judgment. They did not want to admit the problem, and the parts that failed in operation were ours, because the input to our unit exceeded tolerances. We tried showing them this, but they refuse to see it, since there is a big law suit aimed at them, and they wish to duck the blame by dropping it in our lap, thus placing the financial burden of their design problems in our lap."
   "Have you gone to court over this?"
   "Not yet. We were hoping to avoid that."
   "Can you not just go to court and show the technical problem as being their fault and that you supplied the parts according to spec?"
   "We were going to do that, but there was a f ire that destroyed all our tests results on the parts."
   "Arson?" inquired Roberto.
   "We think so, but it took away our evidence that we lived up to the contract as stated."
   "I see."
   "Do you think that you could help me?"
   "Perhaps. I will need to do some investigation. Have you been briefed on my terms?" Roberto inquired.
   "Yes."
   "And you agree to them?"
   "You are expensive."
   "I get results. Here is my standard contract. If you will sign and supply me with the name of the people that are giving you trouble, then I shall look into the situation and see what I might be able to do." He laid the multi-page contract on the table and waited for Mr. Jacklin to sign. He did, and Roberto gave him his copy.
   "When can I expect to hear from you?"
   "In the next few days, as soon as I can get enough information to determine a proper course of action. My line of work is not always a matter of black and white, you understand."
   "You will keep this confidential, won't you?"
   "Naturally. That is a standard part of my service. You shall hear from me soon. I do not foresee too much of a problem. If you could send a copy of the design of the parts in questions, along with contract specs with notes as to where the problems with the interface exist to this address first thing in the morning, it will speed my investigation. Hopefully, I can solve this problem before you reach court." Roberto stood and offered his hand. Henry shook it.
   "I hope you can solve this."
   "It seems pretty straight forward to me. I foresee no real problems, from what you told me."
   "I hope so."
   Roberto bowed and turned away. He returned to his table to find Claressa gone without leaving a note.

   Roberto appeared at the company office posing as a buyer. He had little trouble passing himself off as one, less than usual. The company was eager to impress buyers, and the salesmen rolled out the red carpet for him, complying willingly when he asked for a tour of the facilities. He had to use very little of his innate ability to persuade them to let him see the laboratories and meet the men who'd failed to properly design the robots in question. A few well placed questions led him to the people at fault.
   Once he was sure that he had found them, he made a request of the salesmen for information packets, offering to wait there until they returned with what he requested. Left alone with the key men responsible for the design mishaps concerning his client, he brought his ability into play with a discussion of business ethics. He took only a few minutes to plant in their minds a sense of guilt at making mistakes and the desire to atone for their efforts to cover up their failing to properly design the product. He gave them the desire to do it in a public manner, to the buyers that were pressing for a law suit. They didn't even know that Roberto had planted the compulsion in them when the salesman returned and escorted him to other parts of the facility.
   Roberto was in no hurry to leave, since he found the company very impressive and educational. He took in everything he could accumulate with timely questions, using a little touch of his persuasiveness to glean the information he desired. He left the facility acting very impressed, giving the salesmen the feeling of a sure commission in their pockets.

   Two days later, he read in the business section that the company in question had confessed to poor design work on the robot in question, and that they were accepting full responsibility and releasing all subcontract
companies from blame. Roberto picked up the phone and dialed. He reached a secretary and was asked to hold. He waited two minutes before hearing the live line again.
   "Mr. Jacklin, this is Roberto. I assume that you read the paper this morning. I hope that you find this satisfactory."
   "Yes. Was this your work?"
   "Indeed. And with your problem solved, I shall expect payment in full in the mail before the end of the working day."
   "There might be a problem with that."
   "Please, Mr. Jacklin. I have lived up to my end of the contract and proven my ability to get results. If I should have to use my talents on your company to receive payment, there will be a substantial penalty, and I assure you, I will collect both the amount due and the penalty, as well as raise questions that you will find hard put to answer. Let us not tarnish what has thus far been a smooth relationship. You may one day have further need on my service. I shall expect the check delivered by mail in a few days. I hope I have made myself clear."
   "I'll do what I can."
   "Yes. I know that you know what is best for your own self interest. I'm sure that you will find a way to cover these fees for investigative work rendered. I'm sure that your partner would appreciate the potential savings of your having hired me. If you run into trouble, I would be glad to offer my services to soothe any ruffled feathers, for a modest fee, of course."
Roberto hung up and went out for an early lunch.
   He took a small table at the restaurant, sitting next to an attractive woman who was also being seated alone. He listened as the waitress asked if someone would be joining her. When he heard a negative reply, he smiled. He used his ability to get the waitress to back into him, upsetting the glass of water on his table. He made a show of catching it before it went fully over, making sure that the woman was watching. He brushed aside the apology of the waitress with a warm friendly attitude, telling her that no real damage was done. When she left, he turned to see that he held the woman's attention. He smiled at her.
   "You were very quick in avoiding disaster." she remarked.
   "I guess I just have quick reflexes."
   "My name is Amy."
   "Roberto. Pleased to meet you, Amy."
   "Would you care to join me at a dry table?"
   "Well, it would not be the dry table that would persuade me to join you, but your charming company instead." He got up and moved over to sit with her. He got her to start talking about herself, and soon, she was speaking to him in full confidence as she would to an old trusted friend. He was pleasant and not at all demanding, and by the time they had finished their meal, she had decided to call into work and cancel her appointments for the day in order to spend her time with him. Within half an hour, he had her beside him between the satin sheets of his bed, and they remained there until after dark. She left for home, saying that she didn't know what had come over her, but she didn't walk out the door until he promised to see her the next day.
   Roberto went to his answering machine and listened to calls from four women begging for his attention. He had no intention of calling them back, knowing that he could handle them if they became irrational. He decided to go out for a late dinner. As he was eating, Claressa sat down at his table. She pulled a gun out from her purse and pointed it at him under the table.
   "Are you going to shoot me here?" he asked.
   "Somebody has got to stop you. I talked to several other women today. I'm wise to what you are doing. I can't allow you to go on ruining lives like this."
   "What am I doing that is so wrong?"
   "You control people."
   "How?" he demanded.
   "I don't know, but you have a way of making people do exactly what you want, and then you say that you never made any promises. I am going to put a stop to this."
   "By shooting me?"
   "Yes. Now stop that. You're doing it again. You will not stop me."
   "I am just sitting here eating dinner."
   "You know what I mean. Stop it, or I will shoot you."
   "Then shoot me." he yawned.
   Claressa tried to pull the trigger, but her finger would not respond. She started trembling violently, trying to squeeze off a shot, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She ran out of the restaurant crying. Roberto went on calmly eating dinner, taking attention away from himself.
   He paid the check and went outside. He lit a cigarette and looked up at the evening sky, feeling the city around him, bustling with traffic. He heard a scream, and turned to look. Claressa came running at him and hit him full body, catching him off balance. He had but a moment to try to convince the oncoming truck not to hit him, but he had too little time. The impact was the last thing he knew, orchestrated by Claressa's hysterical and maniacal laughter in harmony with the sound of screeching brakes.