Stein laughed. "Good, good," he said, letting go of Birkin's hand but keeping an eye on him as they walked back, past the room with the living corpse on its table, and out to the living room. He immediately refilled the beakers of rum and sat down on the couch where they'd been before.

"I could probably kill someone with repeated jolts," he said. "But I haven't actually tried it, yet."