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was sure there would be no problem with that, and would fetch her as soon as he was free.
    He then walked further down the hall to a door marked with a C, unlocked it and knocked.  He was invited in to see a tall, Chinese girl standing at the window.  Her build was athletic, with broad shoulders and narrow hips.  Her black hair was long but tied back.  She had a strong face, quite angular compared with Jenny, and her skin was much whiter – in fact, whiter than his own skin which he found surprising.  He repeated the introduction he had given Jenny and led Chrissy downstairs. 
    "I'm 24 and I've never been outside China before," she said in response to Wilkie's invitation to introduce herself.  "In fact I have rarely been far from Beijing.  I learned many Chinese dialects from talking to people who came to Beijing from other parts of China.   I would sit in restaurants and parks and be fascinated by the way they talked, so I'd start by listening to them and trying to guess what they were saying.  Later I would introduce myself and try talking with them.  They'd usually be happy that someone would take an interest in their dialect, and often I would teach them Beijing words they weren't familiar with.  I learned other languages from movies and TV shows, or finding foreigners to talk to.  Then Mum got very sick and Dad introduced me to a man who gave me a job, chatting to men in a club who came from around China and other countries.  It was very good money for what I did, and it rescued the family.  It really improved my language skills."
    She seemed to hesitate.  The Professor interjected, "Please be as explicit as you wish about the work.  It really helps us to understand what you've gone through up until now, and how best to help you.  Remember, no one is judging you here.  And we will all share success or failure in this enterprise."
    Chrissy nodded, reassured.  "Some of the men belonged to gangs.  They said I could make a lot more money doing jobs for them.  It was all illegal – shaking down foreigners, providing a diversion while they looted warehouses – stuff like that.  I did quite a lot of bad stuff – we had huge hospital bills. I got caught once and did a couple of months in jail.  Now Dad's sick too, and he also owes money from his failed business.  This job you've given me is a gift from Heaven."
    She listened to the description of the project intently.  "If you say this could work," she commented when Wilkie paused, "I promise you I will give it my very best efforts.  You know I didn't get the chance of a college education, so it's amazing to me that I can be helping this way."
    "I should tell you about the restrictions on your movements, and ask you if they create any concerns for you," Wilkie told her.  "A critical feature of the process is that your only contact with the other girls is in the lab.  And even there, you will never share any spoken words.  This is likely to make you feel very isolated, since the only people you will be talking to for the duration of the experiment are the three of us – and in fact I won't be here most of the time so it's really just Séamus and Alice.  We have to impose this condition so rigorously that, for most of the time you are not in the lab, you will be locked in your room.  Alice and Séamus – especially Séamus – can take you for walks and occasional drives to stop you from going crazy.  You have an endless number of TV and movie channels and open internet access, with the exception that any connection with the other girls is blocked.  We will be monitoring everything, and that includes cams in your living room.  More than twenty minutes in the bathroom and we will check on you.  All this is as much for your own safety as anything else, as the strain may get very great.  How does all that sound to you?"
    Chrissy took a deep breath.  "To be honest, right now it sounds very good to me.  I was looking out of the windows just