Alex shook his head. “No, that’s not possible. I just arrived—”
“Don’t contradict me,” the girl snapped. “If I say I know you, then I know you. Don’t tell me where I know you from; Pol tells me I have to train myself to remember these things if I’m going to be a successful trader. Just let me think a couple of minutes. It can’t be from the Institute; you still look a little young for that—”
“No, it’s—”
“Quiet! Let me think.”
Alex felt fidgety. The girl was studying his face with piercing intensity, and the wallinor perched on her shoulders mimicked her stare. It all made him very nervous, and he began to feel that perhaps he should be home after all, programming his teaching machine.
“If you wanted to use the simulator, go right ahead,” he told the girl. “I really shouldn’t be here an
