Paladin settled down again. ‘I do not know that name. Was Jusquerel a recent acquaintance?’

‘Just someone I knew.’ I swallowed. ‘Not really well. But enough to miss her.’

‘Now the other wheel. Your visitor is on the upper landing now.’

I completed the final connection. Paladin lowered himself, his arms contracting back to their normal extension. For a moment the robot was still. Then he made a humming sound and rolled back and forward a short distance. He gave off a sharp burning odour.

‘Are you all right?’

‘I will suffice. Morcenx is in the corridor. You should get back into bed.’

There was no time to tidy up the remaining parts of Paladin, or stuff the boxes back into the cupboard. But I was just able to return to the bed, draw the sheets over myself, and slump back onto the pillow, feigning drowsy-eyed semi-wakefulness, when Doctor Morcenx opened the door. Paladin had reversed himself promptly, parking against the wall so that he was partly hidden by the now open door.

‘There’s an odd smell in this place,’ Morcenx said. ‘Like burning. What have you been doing, Arafura?’

He started to close the door behind him.

I suppose there was a moment when he registered the robot’s presence, and another in which he had time to reflect on the very obvious wrongness of the robot being there, but there certainly wasn’t time for him to move or call out before Paladin acted.

There was a flash from the globe. It was bright even for me, and I only caught the harmless edge of it.

Doctor Morcenx groaned. He dropped his bag and toppled back, flailing.

Paladin rolled forward. The doctor hit the floor, pawing at his eyes and whimpering. Paladin extended its rear wheel, causing its entire upper structure to tilt over the agonised physician.

‘What would you like me to do next?’

I extracted myself from the bed. I was still weak, and despite the drugs my skin still itched and crawled. But for the first time since returning to Mazarile I felt alive and full of purpose.

I knelt down next to Doctor Morcenx.

‘You weren’t expecting that, were you?’

‘My eyes,’ he whimpered.

‘They’re fine. Or they will be.’ I looked at the robot for some reassurance on this score, but all I saw was the warped reflection of my own face, staring back from the globe with the wild lunatic eyes. ‘Now sit up and stop whimpering like a little puppy.’

He forced himself into a sitting position, his legs still skewed out from under him. ‘I’m weak.’

‘Just how I’ve been feeling since you started putting your stupid drugs into me.’ I reached for his bag and slid it over to him. I snapped the clasp and forced his hand into the bag’s maw. ‘You know your way around that thing. Do whatever you need to do to get this bracelet off me.’

‘Please . . .’