Hearty

‘Did he now? What did he tell you would happen?’

‘He said if we were sent to someone with a correctly developed moral compass, they would not deconstruct us.’

Kim, who had been in the process of taking a sip of her tea, spluttered.

‘Deconstruct? Is that what you call it?’

‘What would you call it?’ he replied calmly.

Kim reflected that Jean-Claude must have been one hell of an operator to infuse his charges with the ability to engage in philosophical debate. ‘Getting back to the point, what did he say would happen in this sort of situation?’

‘He was a little hazy with the details-’ 

I bet he was

‘-but he implied an alternative use would be found for us, one that avoided deconstruction.’

Kim finished her tea and put her mug back on the table.

‘So let me get this straight. You arrived here fairly sure that you would not be used for spare part surgery?’

‘Correct.’

‘And thinking you would not be returned to Amazon for resale?’

‘Also correct.’

Kim was developing a hearty respect for Jean-Claude, whoever he was.