Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty

When I went back, I found to my surprise that the old man had been idle and was waiting to talk to me.The President left to address a secret meeting of the United Nations, and the Don was excluded from the event.I wondered if he had fallen out of favor politically, but I didn't say so. He has never been to a zoo himself, so he asked me to tell him everything I saw and heard, and then asked me carefully for a long time.I said my opinion on Vargas and McIlvin again. I complained: "It's like two Boy Scouts competing for their stamp collections. They don't realize the seriousness of the situation."

The old man paused before answering me: "Don't underestimate these guys, boy." He advised me, "They are more likely to figure out a way than you and me." "Hmph!" I said angrily. "More likely to let those slugs escape. Remember Graves?" "Of course I do. But you don't understand that science must have a detachment." "May I never understand!" "You wouldn't understand. Science is what makes the world go round, and without it we'd be screwed. But then again, they did let a slug go." "what?" "Didn't they tell you about the elephant?"

"What an elephant? They barely fuckin' told me anything, they were only interested in each other, and put me aside." "That's not why you're angry, is it? About the elephant, here's the thing: an ape with a slug on it got out somehow, and someone found his body in the elephant house, trampled to death and one elephant is missing from the elephant house.” "You mean an elephant got away with a slug attached to it?" I was greeted with a terrifying vision - a tank-like colossus with a controlling brain. "Not exactly," the old man corrected me. "They found him in Maryland, and he was quietly pulling cabbages, and there were no slugs."

"Then where did this slug go?" I looked around involuntarily.Seeing this, the old man smiled softly. "Don't worry, I don't have any here. But a coupe was stolen in a nearby village. The slug is somewhere west of the Mississippi, if I ask you." "Is anyone missing?" He shrugged again, "This is a free country, how can you make this question clear? But in any place other than the red zone, the Titans cannot hide on people." This is true, and the "naked back plan" seems to have been 100% implemented.This reminds me of another thing, something I saw at the zoo, I didn't think about it at the time, but now I can't remember what it was.

The old man continued: "However, we took quite drastic measures to implement the naked back order. The president received a flood of objections, mostly on the grounds of indecentness, as well as from men's clothing all over the country. Protest by the Supplies Association." "what?" "Based on their reaction, you'd think we were trying to sell their daughter to Rio de Janeiro. There was a delegation calling themselves the 'Mother Republic' or something like that." "Is the president's time wasted like this? At a time like this?"

"McDonough was in charge of dealing with them. But he dragged me into this mess, what the hell!" The old man looked pained, "We told them that if they want to see the president, they must not only be bare-backed, but also naked, Naked. That stopped them." The thing that had been bothering me all of a sudden came to mind. "Why, boss, you might really have to." "What do you really have to do?" "Get everyone stripped naked." He bit his lip, looking worried. "What do you mean?" "Do we know with certainty that the only way a slug can control a human body is to attach itself to the back of the head?"

"You should know better than me." "I used to think I knew it, but I'm not so sure now. We always do that when I'm... well, when I'm with the slugs." Scene of a slug sent by old Satan, "As soon as that thing hits the end of the monkey's spine under the tailbone, the monkey wakes up. Maybe they prefer to climb up near the brain - I'm sure they're happy but Maybe they don't have to; maybe they can be attached to a person's pants, just by touching the end of the spine, and they can control the human body." "Um... kid, do you remember? The first time, I stripped a bunch of people naked to find the slug. I did it on purpose: I wanted to be 100 percent sure."

"I think you're doing the right thing. You see, they might have the ability to be in any part of the body, such as underpants. Of course, there are some underpants that don't even try to hide anything." I thought of Mary. corsets, "but the rest—like your big baggy panties, where the slugs could be hiding, and the ass just looks a little bit fatter—well, I mean, a little bit fatter than you are now .” "Want me to take it off?" "I have a better way. I'll give you the Kansas City Eagle Claw." It was a joke, but I meant it, and I scratched at the bulge of his trousers to make sure he was innocent.Otherwise, once I catch the slug, he'll twist into a ball and lose consciousness.He gladly accepted my approach, and then responded in kind.

He grumbled as he sat down, "But we can't go around slapping women's asses, it's not okay." "I'm afraid we'll have to do that," I pointed out, "or leave everyone naked." "We'll do an experiment and see." "How?" I asked. "You know about the spine armor? It's not worth that much, and serves no purpose other than to give a sense of security to anyone who takes the trouble to wear it. I'll let Dr. Horace pick out a monkey, Put an armor on it so the slugs can only reach its legs, yes - see what happens. You can use other methods, as long as you can limit the area where the slugs attack. You can also change Different parts. We'll figure it out."

"Uh, all right. But don't let the Boss use monkeys, boss." "why not?" "Well, they are too human-like." "Damn, little guy, you can't shrink your head and don't break eggs—" "How can you make an omelet?" I picked up before he finished. "Okay, okay, but I really don't like this. Okay, just figure it out." I could see that he didn't like his idea either. "I hope it turns out you're wrong. Sir, I really hope you're wrong. It's hard enough to get people to take off their shirts." He looked worried, and said, "I can't imagine what will happen when you take off your underwear. "

"Maybe we don't have to." "Hopefully not." "By the way, we're moving to our old home." "What about the new Philadelphia stronghold?" I asked. "Both places are needed. This battle may go on for a long time." "Speaking of which, what are you going to do now?" "Now, as I said, it's a long game. Why don't you take a break? An indeterminate period—I'll call you back when I need you." "You don't have to tell me that's what you do all the time," I said. "Is Mary going on vacation too?" "What does it have to do with you?" "I asked straight, so please answer straight, sir." "Mary works at the President's." "Why? She's done her job, well done. I know you, you're not going to rely on her to spot slugs! You don't need her as a bodyguard, a good agent is overqualified for a job like that." "Hey, hey, when did you become so capable that you can actually tell me how to use other agents? Tell me." "Forget it, forget it." I said, my temper was almost out of control, "If Mary doesn't take a vacation, I don't want to take a vacation either—as for why, it's none of your business." "She's a nice girl." "I told her, didn't I? Don't worry about my business. Also, give me a task to do." "I said, you need a vacation." "This way of making sure Mary is free and I'm busy? What kind of institution is this? The YWCA?" "You're exhausted, so you have to take a vacation." "Humph!" "Muctron is a good agent when it's good. But you can't right now, you're completely overdrawn. No, don't interrupt me, listen to me: I just sent you on a simple mission. Into a captured Check out the city and report to me everything you see there by the due date. How do you do it? You're too nervous to go into the city to check it out, and you're just hanging out in the suburbs. You're not vigilant, So three times you almost got caught. And when you turn around, you get nervous, you burn out your car, and you don't make it back in time. Your nerves and your judgment are faulty. Get some rest—sick leave, to be exact. " I stood there with fever in my ears.He didn't directly blame me for the failure of the "counter-shock plan", but it achieved practical results.I don't think it's fair, but I know there's something to what he said. My nerves used to be as firm as a rock, but now, even when I light a cigarette, my hands are shaking. Anyway, he still gave me a task.For the first and only time, I had the upper hand in an argument with him. Terrible task.I spent the next few days giving reports to the big shots, answering silly questions about what the Titans eat for lunch, and explaining how to deal with people possessed by slugs.When I'm introduced, I'm boasted as an "expert," but for the most part, my students seem confident that they know more about slugs than I do. Why do people always cling to their preconceptions?Can anyone explain it clearly for me?