It's not a girl or boy thing, it's a cute thing,"Helen said and added, "Babies don't have a gender. they just have cuteand pretty." Cute? Okay, you're... right, babies are cute but that guy in there isstill a guy," Barbie said and added, "so okay I get you getting turnedon turning him into a baby, but you want him in a baby dress?" I know, sounds crazy when you say it in the light doesn't it," Helensaid."In some ways, yes. In other ways no," Barbie noted as she sipped herwater and added, "So what. James was more than just a repairman; he was an artist at his craft. He started as an apprentice to another master. Bruno was an excellent repairman too, but he always did things by the book. He tried to instill that in his protege James but realized early on that he was much more.It was forbidden to alter their physical structure or programming, but James loved to tinker. James would only dabble in unorthodox repairs with part units. Often Bruno's shop would receive units so completely. "I'll call Natalietomorrow, see if we can get you into a spare room ASAP. Unless you wantto spend more time as James, of course?"Sophie paused as she considered Rachel's offer. In all the fussconcerning her new job, and her planned expos?, she'd not had the timeto stop and think about what exactly the next few months would entail.It wasn't enough that she'd be pretending to be another person for theduration- she'd effectively be abandoning her old identity entirely.Consciously, of course, James. =====“They’re all the same lying down” was a useful, if churlish, expression from Jaz’s youth, when you could say such things among your friends and not be pilloried for it. And he and Zelma weren’t even going out. They weren’t going to be subject to public scrutiny. “Look at that shrimp with the Dutch willow. He’ll have to get a stepladder to kiss her. And he won’t even have to stoop to suck her nipples.”The dogs gave Jaz a cacophonous welcome and he stood dutifully with his right arm.