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. Flogging is over quickly, and so is branding. I was thinking of a possible second offense. It's better to be shortened than to be caught again after a branding."
Thorby abandoned his mush entirely. "Pop? Just what does a lobotomy do to you?"
"Mmm . . . you might say it makes the thorium mines endurable. But let's not go into it, not at meal times. Speaking of such, if you are through, get your bowl and let's not dally. There's an auction this morning."
"You mean I can stay?"
"This is your home."
Baslim never again suggested that Thorby leave him. Manumission made no difference in their routine or relationship. Thorby did go to the Royal Archives, paid the fee and the customary gift and had a line tattooed through his serial number, the Sargon's seal tattooed beside it with book and page number of the record which declared him to be a free subject of the Sargon, entitled to taxes, military service, and starvation without let or hindrance. The clerk who did the tattooing looked at Thorby's serial number and said, "Doesn't look like a birthday job, kid. Your old man go bankrupt? Or did your folks sell you just to get shut of you?"
"None of your business!"
"Don't get smart, kid, or you'll find that this needle can hurt even more. Now give me a civil answer. I see it's a factors mark, not a private owner's, and from the way it has spread and faded, you were maybe five or six
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