practical

got projections running and not monitoring them?" Megan asked.
"They're sentient avatars," Paul corrected. "For all practical purposes they are me. It was proscribed pre-Fall, but it's the only way to keep track of what is going on. I need to recall them, soon. They're not . . . fully stable. I need to recall them and then send out new ones."
"Well, you can do that here," Megan said. "Right?"
"I need to be undisturbed," Paul pointed out.
"There's an empty room right there," Megan said, pointing at his chamber. "And I'll make sure you're not disturbed. And when you're done, I'll make sure that you're fed and comforted and cosseted and . . ."
"Okay, okay." Paul laughed, hushing himself as one of the other girls stirred and snaked a hand across the body next to her. "I'll go in there."
"And I'll watch. Is there anything I should be aware of?"
"No, it's a harmless procedure," Paul said, walking to the room. "Mostly."
Paul reclined on one of the pillows and closed his eyes, appearing to go back to sleep or into a trance. But almost immediately he began to twitch as if hit by some invisible force. And he muttered.
"Bloody hell . . ." Pause. "No, no, no how stupid can one vacuous bitch be? Released?" Pause. "Ekmantan." Pause. "Ships? Dragon-carriers?" Pause. "Damn them." "Talbot." A hiss of anger.
It went on for what seemed like hours and he became drenched with sweat, the increasing anger boiling off of him like a vapor.
She rose after a while and left quietly. All of the other girls were still in sodden slumber so she picked through