"A little touch of my own," said Amos Handworthy. "That's what happens when I hit him."
He looked down at his gun, almost proudly, and Manny had the eerie feeling that it was only with restraint that he did not blow the imaginary smoke away from the gun barrel.
"That's a highly imaginative device," said Manny.
"He is," said Amos Handworthy. "But he's still not quite what I want him to be. I have an idea that you can make him the kind of opponent I need."
"What do you want?" said Manny. All of his ennui was beginning to evaporate and the familiar exultant response to challenge had begun to grow in him.
"I want him to be able to hit me, too, figuratively speaking," said Amos Handworthy. "As things stand now, this shoot out is entirely one sided. I'd like to know, for instance, if he's been able to hit me."
"I can do it," said Manny. "You'll have to get me off my regular project, but I can do it."
"I'll call your division chief in the morning," said Amos Handworthy. "You'll stay here with me and you can have all the time you need."
Manny did not sleep well in his spacious overly comfortable bed. He was up early the following morning pouring over the construction plans for the Marshal and examining the instruction folder which the Swiss company, with typical thoroughness, had included in the neatly packed maintenance kit. He caught the guiding concept of the design at once, and made his plans to modify the Marshal along lines that incorporated control techniques that were basically electronic.