"Are you frightened?"
The boy bit his lip and nodded slowly.
"Of me? Of Dr. Dorffman?"
"No. Oh, no!"
"Then what?"
Again the mute appeal in the boy's eyes. He groped for words, and none came. Finally he said, "If I could only take this off—" He fingered the grey plastic helmet.
"You think that would make you feel better?"
"It would, I know it would."
Lessing shook his head. "I don't think so, Tommy. You know what the monitor is for, don't you?"
"It stops things from going out."