CHAPTER XVI.

 He hopped¹ off and let her pass, boarding it again and following her at a distance. As soon as they were out of the business district, he began to edge closer.

 

A few blocks from the Shelter she got off the belt and waited, turning around and smiling directly at him. In the interim² her attitude toward him had changed, evidently—for the better, as far as he was concerned. He couldn't ignore her and didn't want to. He stepped off the belt.

 

"Hello," she said. "I think you were following me."

 

"I was. Do you mind?"

 

"I guess I don't." She walked along with him. "Others followed me, but I discouraged them."

 

She was worth following, but it was not that which was strange. Now she seemed composed and extraordinarily³ friendly, a complete reversal from last night. Had she learned something during the day which changed her opinion of him? He hoped she had.

 

She stopped at the edge of the Shelter area. "Do you live here?"

 

Learned something? She seemed to have forgotten.

 

He nodded.

 

"For the same reason?"

 

His throat tightened⁴. He had told her all that last night. Couldn't she remember?

 

"Yes," he said.

 

"I thought so. That's why I didn't mind your following me."

 

Here was the attraction factor that Borgenese had spoken of; it was functioning again, for which he was grateful. But still, why? And why didn't she remember last night?

 

They walked on until she came to her dwelling⁵. She paused at the door. "I have a feeling I should know who you are, but I just can't recall. Isn't that terrible?"

 

It was—frightening. Her identity was apparently⁶ incompletely established; it kept slipping backward to a time she hadn't met him. He couldn't build anything enduring on that; each meeting with her would begin as if nothing had happened before.

 

Would the same be true of him?

 

He looked at her. The torn dress hadn't been repaired, as he'd thought at first; it had been replaced by the robots that came out of the wall at night. They'd done a good job fitting her, but with her body that was easy.

 

It was frightening and it wasn't. At least this time he didn't have a handicap. He opened his mouth to tell her his name, and then closed it. He wasn't going to make that mistake again. "I haven't decided⁷ on a name," he said.

 

"It was that way with me too." She gazed at him and he could feel his insides sloshing around. "Well, man with no name, do you want to come in? We can have dinner together."

 

He entered. But dinner was late that night. He had known it would be.

1 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

2 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

4 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

5 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。