Roy squeezed his eyes shut in preparation for the coming of a physical strike the robot was now going to make good on, but when no strike came, and he had finally reached the point of consensus in his prolonged internal personal debate that:

¶ –aside from the seeming assuage of anticipation–

there probably wasn’t any actual difference in one’s receiving a strike with their eyes closed versus open

¶ –at least as far as a difference in the perception of pain was concerned–

and that the seeming insult to injury in having closed them only to then open them and receive the strike just as they were opened… just the same

¶–the way one might waken seeming seconds before an alarm set and intentioned for s...

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