Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Advanced Programming Assignment free essay sample
Design a systemà to implement simulation of mobile phonebook. Phonebook should store name and number upto a limited size. Phone book should provide variousà operations like adding entries, editing the entries, deletingà the entries, searching and traversing the entries. User of the system should be able to perform all the above operations. He should be able to clear the list too. Search functions should have the facilities to search both number as well as name i.e. Once name is entered, it should return its number provided name exist in the phonebook, and when number is entered, it should return both name and number provided that number is in the list. Phone book must be implemented in Java programming language. A simple text based menu should be used as user interface. Various operations should be performed by taking the input from the user. Design: In the design phase, first step is to develop use-case diagram. We will write a custom essay sample on Advanced Programming Assignment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It shows the activities performed by the user. In this phone-book simulation, there is only one user of the application. He performs all the operations. Following diagram shows tha use-case diagram for the phone-book application. As shown, a single user performing all the operations. Under browse operations, two suboperations namely editing entries and travering of entries are performed. Class Diagram: There are two classes used in this simulation; phonebook and contact. ââ¬ËPhonebookââ¬â¢ class contains all the interfaces and ââ¬Ëcontactââ¬â¢ class contains the two arrays to store name and phone number.Array data structure is used to store the name and phone number in sequential format. Class diagram contains classes and relation between them. Here, interfaces in phonebook classare used to implement the various operations on the contact class.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
True Knight Essays
True Knight Essays True Knight Paper True Knight Paper Essay Topic: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight written by the Pearl Poet, Sir Gawain is proven to be a true knight. The Pearl Poet proves Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s true knightmenship in many different ways. Sir Gawain succeeds in earning the title ââ¬Å"true knightâ⬠by passing the Green Knightââ¬â¢s test and proving the valor of King Arthurââ¬â¢s knights, but he makes mistakes in the process because he is human, like everyone else. The first thing that Sir Gawain does in the story that proves that he is indeed a true knight is that he takes the challenge of the beheading game that the Green Knight purposes. At first King Author took the challenge, but Sir Gawain volunteered to take the challenge so that his King, King Author is protected. The fact that Sir Gawain does this and that fact that he shows up to the second challenge a year later shows that he is brave and that he is a great knight. Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s character also proves that he is morally strict in keeping his honorable reputation as a Knight because when the Green Knightââ¬â¢s beautiful wife tempts Sir Gawain, although he knew he would die in a few days time, he never fell into her manipulative seduction scheme. No matter how persistent ââ¬Å"the lady demeaned her as one that loved him muchâ⬠, Sir Gawain always ââ¬Å"fenced with her featly, ever flawless in manner. â⬠(58). This sends a powerful message to the reader about Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s morality as a person, being able to resist the very temptation that had brought so many other great men to their knees. The Knights were also expected to be the gallant, zealous defenders of Camelot. Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s perseverance and bravery definitely resembles that of an ideal knight. During his long journey, Sir Gawain ââ¬Å"found a foe before him, save at few for a wonder; and so foul were they and fell that fight he must needs and thus conquering each and every one of the beasts that challenges himâ⬠(41). The knight was also stunningly brave when he went to receive his repayment from the Green Knight. Even though his guide warned him of his nonexistent chances of surviving, Sir Gawain nevertheless presses onwards, replying that ââ¬Å"â⬠¦if I here departed fain in fear now to flee, in the fashion thou speakest, I should a knight coward be, I could not be excused. Noy, Iââ¬â¢ll fare to the Chapel, whatever chance may befallâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ (85). Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s unwavering bravery further justifies his rightful title as an ideal knight. Through living up to the expected virtues of knighthood such as chastity, selflessness, bravery, and piety, Sir Gawain proves himself time and time again his worthiness to be recognized as the ideal knight. Each time the knight faces a different challenge or trial, his consequent decisions reveal a little about his character. It is nearly impossible to compare the virtues and criterion of the ideal knight to Sir Gawainââ¬â¢s actions and not recognize the stunning. As Sir Gawain and the Green Knight closes to an end, the reader is left with the impression that Sir Gawain had indeed fulfilled his duties as the ideal knight.
Monday, February 24, 2020
A detailed study or formal essay on The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo
A detailed study or formal on The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy - Essay Example This paper will analyze Tolstoyââ¬â¢s story focusing on the theme of isolation and the Russian way of life by studying the kind of life that the main character lived in the story as told by the narrator, as well as his thoughts, perspectives, and the way he dealt with his family and the entire Russian society as a whole. The story is plotted starting from the announcement of the death of Ilych, by his friend Peter Ivanovich, to a group of judges in the court room. Instead of grieving sincerely, they were merely thankful that they were not the ones who died which means they will have longer service in court and a bonus consolation that Ilychââ¬â¢s death will open to promotions at work (Tolstoy 7). On the other hand, Praskovya, Ilychââ¬â¢s wife, wanted to do something more about her husbandââ¬â¢s pension from the government to make sure she gets more than what she expects. Meanwhile, Gerasim, the nurse who took care of Ilych on his death bed, has anticipated death and thought that it must not be feared for it comes to everyone in due time (Tolstoy 15). As the story progresses, the early life of Ilych is narrated. During his teens, he studied law at a school where he observed and adopted a high social status in life. He then worked seriously in line with his degree (Tolstoy 26). Eventually, he got married to Praskovya with the thought that men with high social standards in Russia must marry, buy properties, and start a family (Tolstoy 45). While Praskovya had a very hassling pregnancy, Ilych began to drown in work and, eventually, he built a fence between him and his family. He treated them as if they were some colleagues at work or some business partners. When he was offered an opportunity for a higher position, with a higher salary, initiated by a friend in the Ministry of Justice at St. Petersburg, he bought and furnished a new house where his family
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Employablility skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Employablility skills - Assignment Example I adhere to rules and regulations that are highly stipulated in the interworking of the banking industry, an ostensibly capitalistic system with stringent rules that are not stringently enforced (Beard, 2007, p.74). I was a summer analyst at [Quator capital] last year where I prepared books of accounts, analyzed clients presentations and built financial models for leveraged buyouts and credit reviews. I participated in deal calls as a team member in Financial Institutions Group and gained an understanding of how the needs of a client are best met on time. Presently as the organizing secretary of Brighton College Student Association, I oversee financial transactions for over 100 student organizations and a $600,000 budget, challenges which draw on my attention to details and ability to keep manifold priorities in balance (Teed & Bhattacharya, 2002, p.128). I am enticed by the practice of your firm of bringing together a hierarchy of assorted team members with diverse opportunities that bring in a distinction through creativity in solving problems that emerge in daily operations in the firm, a chance that embraces my best capability in critical thinking (Beard, 2007, p.79). Your investment firm is committed to service projects like mentoring at-risk learners and food serving in the local shelters, an advance that is appealing to me to be given my volunteer experience with our local Big Sisters program. The market global position and the client-centered philosophy of the firm combined with the opportunity to contribute to the community make your firm a thrilling place to build my career (Thorpe & Dulgarian, 2008, p.74). This opportunity will enable me to gain experience in professional industry while undertaking my undergraduate degree as it will grant me with both a competitive edge in the marketplace as well as an opportunity to exper ience the
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Promoting Change Essay Example for Free
Promoting Change Essay As a way of improving the level of usersââ¬â¢ involvement and making the process an effective one, it becomes necessary that consultative mechanisms that tend to produce feedbacks to users, and the ability to integrate them in every stage of service delivery is put in place. Through their interaction with nurses and the nursing body, users would get to be informed on ways to participate in other to help nurses to deliver effective services. ââ¬Å"Users need to get feedbacks on their participation, but this does not always happen. This can have a bad effect on how people feel about being involved in participation and the difference they can makeâ⬠(Carr, 2004). Social policy- making have characteristically tended to employ consultative mechanisms to seek greater citizen involvement in generating information for policy formulation. According to Gaventa (1993), the renewed focus on agency in the politics of policy- making offers the scope for recasting the role of citizens in the policy process. Rather than simply the passive recipients of decision made by those who are presumed to know better, participatory approaches redefine ââ¬Ëexpertiseââ¬â¢ in terms that both reveal the realities of power involved and assert the legitimacy of knowledge claims by those on the receiving end of policies. The imbalances of power position between the professionals and administrators of service and the users have been observed to be a basis for the relegation of usersââ¬â¢ interest to the background. Thus, for an effective mechanism, it then requires that the gap between users and the provider of service be closed down. This can be done when some of these users, who are fit enough, can be trained to become occupiers of the administrative positions for service delivery. Also proper dissemination of information and enlightenment would go a long way in positioning the users and making them know their rights and thus, preventing intimidation and any form of coercion. The importance of proper consultation and feedbacks in usersââ¬â¢ involvement would make the users having a sense of satisfaction and the belief that they are actually being involved in the service delivery process. This will create a sense of belonging and even encourage more participation and reduce the level of relegation and disregards of users voice in the policy outcome and decision-making during service policy formulation and implementation. In Wales, the Joint Review Team argues that new mechanisms are now in place to champion the cause of the users. The emphasis is on a culture of involvement through adequate feedbacks to users enhancing users involvement in service delivery. According to Cornwall Gaventa (1999), one form of greater accountability is through increased dialogue and consultation of core users and their involvement. This raises questions about the extent to which marginalized groups are able to articulate their concerns and about the form that dialogue takes Proper conflict resolution that manages conflicts during usersââ¬â¢ involvement is necessary in bringing about the effective service delivery and users involvement at the long run. Some articulate service users are branded as unrepresentative therefore be in risk of being ignored. ââ¬Å"Service users who articulate the need for changes that agencies may not be willing or able to implement have sometimes being labelled as ââ¬Ëunrepresentativeâ⬠¦implementing changes that require reallocation of resources becoming more difficult especially if these conflict with nationally defined service prioritiesâ⬠. Discrepancy between what management want of user involvement and what users want may be a major source of dissatisfaction for service users, since managers definitions tend to prevail. Some reviews note that dissatisfaction and even conflict may be an inevitable part of the user participation process (ibid). Thus, it requires as a proper resolution of areas of differences that they are adequately taken cared of. Those who usually contact the users should be trained and coached on how to interact and listen to their views and opinions in order to ward off any form of conflict breeding. As Carr (2004), puts it, ââ¬Å"the research suggests that front- line practitioners who have most contact with service users could be usefully engaged in user participation strategies and benefit from user- led training focusing on the practice and principles of user participationâ⬠. The front liner practitioners should be equipped with the knowledge of how to handle complaints when service users forward it to them. CONCLUSION Usersââ¬â¢ involvement in service in the nursing profession has given them the confidence and pride of having a say in the determination and outcome of what is provided to them. However, report has it that some users feel consulted rather than involved and others have a sense of powerlessness as regarding the complex and confused system in which the participation is structured on. While a sense of stereotyping is being carried out in some quarters, where discrimination and marginalization based on race, minority ethnic has hampered the proper participation of some users. Some professionals relegates usersââ¬â¢ interest, this is mostly done due to the huge lacuna of power positioning between the managers and professionals of service provision and the users. It then requires that a proper mechanism for users involvement be put in place through their understanding of the roles of nursing in the healthcare facility and those ethics governing their profession. Hence, it is advocated that a proper feedback mechanism is available; proper conflict resolution be provided for interest clashââ¬â¢ the users of service should be integrated into the service provision activities, where they are perceived as getting services as rights and not privileges. REFRENCES Barnes, C. Mercer G. (2003), ââ¬Å"Research review on User Involvement in Promoting Change and Enhancing the Quality of Social care Services for Disabled Peopleâ⬠Center for Disability Studies University of Leeds. 30 June. http://www. leeds. ac. uk/â⬠¦/archiveuk/Barnes/SCIEuserinvolvement2. pdf (19/01/06) Carr, Sarah (2004), ââ¬Å"Position Paper 3: Has service user participation made a difference to social care services? â⬠Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). March. http://www.participateinhealth.org.au
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
The Blood Lust :: Personal Narrative Vegetarians Papers
The Blood Lust My parents met at a party in September, 1975. A month later they left Rhode Island and drove cross-country together in the Volkswagen bus that my mom had bought for the trip. They brought along my mom's dog Sagebrush and two of her friends. Actually, the two friends, the dog, and my mom brought my dad. He wanted a ride out to his friend's place in Ohio, but ended up staying with them all the way to California. My mom's two friends left in California, and my mom and dad ended up driving home together. They didn't have much money. By the time they got to Santa Barbara, they were so poor that they stood wearing sandwich boards advertising a soup and sandwich special at the Bluebird Cafà © in exchange for a free lunch, which they split. They also worked as telemarketers and house cleaners. They ate very cheaply. Lots of cheese, my dad says, and crackers. For two weeks, my mom didn't eat; she drank only apple juice -not because they were starving poor, but because she wanted to cleanse her body. Mostly they slept in the bus, but they had friends to visit across the country, and for a while, they stayed in Virginia with my mom's father's cousin, whom they barely knew. The only times they ever ate meat were when it was served to them at people's houses, for it was far too expensive for them to buy on their own. They began to find, as they made their way across the country, that it felt heavy and unhealthy, especially red meat and pork. When they got back east three months later, they moved into a small house in Narragansett, Rhode Island, with rotting kitchen walls so soft that you could stick a finger through. One day, my mom thought back and realized, slightly revolted, that the last piece of meat she had eaten was a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard at the Oak Hill Tavern, months ago. Right then and there, she decided that if she couldn't kill something herself, she wouldn't eat it. I was born five years later, and my mom and dad began their parental journey with the inten tion of raising a family of vegetarians. I was five years old, and pale. My parents were concerned. At about the same time they noticed I was paler than my fellow kindergarteners, my dad came down with pneumonia, from working with the insulation in our unfinished attic.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Succubus Heat CHAPTER 1
Sleeping with my therapist was a bad idea. I knew it too, but I couldn't really help it. There were only so many times I could hear ââ¬Å"Why don't you explain thatâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Tell me how you feel.â⬠So, I finally snapped and decided to show the guy how I felt. I've gotta say, for a decent guy who had never cheated on his wife, he wasn't that hard to take advantage of. And by ââ¬Å"not hard,â⬠I mean ââ¬Å"ridiculously easy.â⬠His pseudo morals gave me a strong succubus energy fix, and when you consider that what we did was probably the most productive thing that ever took place on his couch, it was almost like I did a good deed. Still, I knew my boss was going to be pissed, seeing as he was the one who'd ordered me to seek counseling in the first place. ââ¬Å"Do not tell Jerome,â⬠I warned my friends, tapping my cigarette against the ashtray. ââ¬Å"I don't want to deal with that kind of fallout.â⬠My friends and I were sitting at a booth in Cold July, an industrial club down in Seattle's Belltown district. The place was dark and loud, with crisscrossing pipes on the walls and ceiling forming the bulk of the d?à ¦cor. Because it was a private club, it didn't have to adhere to the city's public smoking ban, which was a perk for me. In the last few months, I'd found nicotine was one of the essential things helping me cope. Other things on the essential list: vodka, Nine Inch Nails, a steady supply of moral men, and an all-purpose bitchy attitude. ââ¬Å"Look, Georgina,â⬠said my friend Hugh. He was an imp, a type of hellish legal assistant who bought souls for our masters and did assorted middle-management tasks. He had dark-cropped hair and was big without being fat. ââ¬Å"I'm no expert in mental health, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that probably wasn't a helpful step on the road to healing.â⬠I shrugged and let my eyes scan the crowded room for potential victims. There were some pretty good pickings here. ââ¬Å"Well, he wasn't that good. At therapy, I mean. Besides, I don't think I need it anymore.â⬠Silence met me, inasmuch as silence could meet me in a place so noisy. I turned back to my friends. Hugh was making no pretense of hiding his you're fucking crazy look. Our vampire friends, Peter and Cody, at least had the decency to avert their eyes. I narrowed mine and put out the cigarette. ââ¬Å"I don't suppose,â⬠said Peter at last, ââ¬Å"that this is anybody you'd maybe, uh, like to date long term?â⬠ââ¬Å"Yeah,â⬠agreed Cody, eyes wide and hopeful. ââ¬Å"I bet a therapist would be a great listener. And you wouldn't even have to pay for it.â⬠ââ¬Å"My insurance pays for it,â⬠I snapped. ââ¬Å"And I don't really appreciate your passive-aggressive attitude about my boyfriend.â⬠ââ¬Å"It's not that passive,â⬠said Hugh. ââ¬Å"You could do better, sweetie.â⬠ââ¬Å"The guy's corrupt and going to Hell. How is this a problem for you? And you didn't like my last boyfriend either. Maybe you should stop worrying about my love life and go back to figuring out how to get your latest secretary into bed.â⬠In what had to be a weird twist of the universe, none of my friends liked my current boyfriend, a dark magician named Dante. Dante's morals were pretty nonexistent, and he owned stock in bitterness and cynicism. That would make you think he'd fit in perfectly with this group of damned souls, but for whatever reason, he didn't. ââ¬Å"You aren't meant to be with someone bad,â⬠said Cody. We were all immortal now but were considered ââ¬Å"lesser immortals.â⬠That meant we had once been human before selling our souls into Hell's service. Cody was young compared to the rest of us in our little circle. Hugh claimed almost a century. Peter and I had millennia. As such, there was almost a naà ¯vet?à ¦ about Cody, a charming idealism that rivaled the kind I used to have. It had been shattered when my previous boyfriend, a human named Seth, had left me for a friend of mine. Seth was a good soul, quiet and infinitely kind. He'd made me believe in better things, like that maybe there was hope for a succubus like me. I'd thought I was in love-no, I had been in love. Even I could admit that. But as a succubus, I brought a dangerous element to any relationship. When I had sex with a guy (or a girl-it worked either way), I stole their life energy, which was the power that fueled every human soul. It kept me alive and sustained my immortal existence. The purer the guy, the more energy I took. The more energy I took, the more I shortened his life. With Dante, I had almost no effect. He had little energy to give, so our sex life was relatively ââ¬Å"safe,â⬠and I therefore sought my fixes from meaningless guys on the side. With Sethâ⬠¦well, that had been a different story. Sleeping with him would have had very detrimental effects-so I'd refused to do it. For a while, we'd lived on love alone, our relationship being about a lot more than a physical act. Over time, however, that had taken its toll, as had a number of simple relationship complications. Things had finally blown up when Seth had slept with my friend Maddie. I think he'd done it to encourage me to break up, hoping to spare me future pain. Whatever the initial intent, he and Maddie had actually gone on to establish a fairly serious relationship in the following months. I hadn't taken that very well. ââ¬Å"There's no pleasing you guys,â⬠I growled, beckoning the waiter for another drink. He ignored me, irritating me further. ââ¬Å"You don't like good ones. You don't like bad ones. What the fuck does it take?â⬠A new voice suddenly cut into our circle. ââ¬Å"Please tell me we're discussing your romantic hijinks, Georgie. There's nothing I enjoy more.â⬠There he was, standing beside our table: my boss Jerome, archdemon of Seattle and its greater metropolitan area. I glared. I didn't appreciate the mocking tone-or him calling me Georgie. He sat down beside Hugh, and the waiter I'd been trying to summon dashed over immediately. We ordered a new round of drinks. Jerome was clearly in a good mood today, which always made our lives easier. He had on a black designer suit, and his hair was styled exactly the same as John Cusack's had been in a recent TV interview I watched. That probably bears mentioning: Jerome's human body of choice was a clone of John Cusack. Succubi can change shape because that's part of what helps us with seduction. Demons can change shape simply because-like angels-they're insanely powerful beings who have been around since the beginning of time. They're ââ¬Å"greater immortals.â⬠Because of a weird fan obsession that he adamantly denied, Jerome chose to interact in the mortal world looking like the actor. The strange thing was that when we were out like this, humans never seemed to notice the resemblance. ââ¬Å"You haven't been out with us in a while,â⬠I pointed out, hoping to change the subject. ââ¬Å"I thought you've been busy with demon stuff.â⬠Rumor had it that Jerome was sparring with another demon, though none of us knew the details. He took one of my cigarettes out of the pack without asking. A moment later, the end of the cigarette lit on its own. Show-off. ââ¬Å"Things have actually taken a pleasant turn,â⬠he said. He inhaled deeply and then let the smoke swirl around him. ââ¬Å"One less thing to deal with. I'd hoped the incessant babbling about your romantic woes was also going away, but I suppose that's too much to hope for. Are you still with that charlatan?â⬠I threw up my hands. ââ¬Å"Why does everyone hate Dante? You guys should be embracing him as a brother.â⬠Jerome considered, dark eyes thoughtful. ââ¬Å"He annoys me. You can do better.â⬠ââ¬Å"Jesus Christ,â⬠I said. ââ¬Å"Maybe she'd see that if she'd stop doing stupid shit like sleeping with her therapist,â⬠noted Hugh, in what was apparently supposed to be a helpful tone. I turned on him, eyes wide. ââ¬Å"Did you listen to anything I just said?â⬠ââ¬Å"Plenty,â⬠he said. Meanwhile, Jerome's lazy, pleased expression disappeared. He fixed his gaze on me, eyes burning like flame yet inexplicably making me feel cold all over. He smashed the cigarette out and shot up from his seat. Grabbing my arm, he jerked me up from my own spot and started dragging me from the table. ââ¬Å"Come with me,â⬠he hissed. I stumbled with him out to the hall that led to the restrooms. Once out of the sight of others, he pushed me against a wall and leaned toward me, face filled with fury. It was a sign of his agitation that he was behaving like a human. He could have simply transported both of us to some isolated place. ââ¬Å"You fucked your therapist?â⬠he exclaimed. I gulped. ââ¬Å"I wasn't making much progress.â⬠ââ¬Å"Georgie!â⬠ââ¬Å"Why is this a problem? He was a good soul. I thought that was what you wanted me to do!â⬠ââ¬Å"I wanted you to get this fucking chip off your shoulder that you've had ever since that boring mortal dumped you.â⬠I flinched. It was kind of a weird thing. I'd been so depressed after the Seth breakup that Jerome had finally flipped out and told me to go seek help because he was tired of listening to me ââ¬Å"bitch and moan.â⬠The strangeness of a demon encouraging counseling for one of his employees wasn't lost on me. But honestly, how could he understand? How could he understand what it was like to have your heart smashed? To be ripped from the person you loved most in the world? My whole existence had lost meaning, and eternity had seemed impossible to bear. For weeks, I wouldn't go out or talk much to anybody. I'd isolated myself, lost in my own grief. That was when Jerome had thrown up his hands and demanded I snap out of it. And I had, kind of. I'd swung the other way. I'd suddenly become angry-so, so angry at the way life had treated me. Some of my misfortunes were my own fault. But Seth? I didn't know. I didn't know what had happened there, and I felt wronged by the world and the lifetimes of hurt it kept giving me. So, I'd started getting back at it. I'd stopped caring. I'd thrown myself into full succubus mode: seeking out the most moral men I could, stealing their life, and breaking their hearts with little remorse. It helped with the pain. Sometimes. ââ¬Å"I'm doing what I'm supposed to!â⬠I yelled. ââ¬Å"I'm scoring soul after soul. You have nothing to complain about.â⬠ââ¬Å"You have a bitchy attitude and keep picking fights with everyone-and you aren't getting better. I'm tired of it. And I'm tired of you.â⬠I froze, my antagonism turning to pure fear. When a demon said he was tired of you, it often resulted in being recalled to Hell. Or being smote. ââ¬Å"Jeromeâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ I tried to assess my best strategy here. Charm? Contrition? He stepped away and took a deep, calming breath. It didn't help much. His anger came through loud and clear. ââ¬Å"I'm sending you away. I'm going to outsource you to someone.â⬠â⬠What ?â⬠My anger returned, pushing my fear away momentarily. Outsourcing was a huge insult to a succubus. ââ¬Å"You can't do that.â⬠ââ¬Å"I can do whatever I fucking want. You answer to me.â⬠A lanky guy turned down the hall, heading toward the restroom. Jerome fixed him with a piercing, terrifying look. The guy yelped and hastily headed back the other way. ââ¬Å"There's an archdemon in Vancouver who wants someone to keep an eye on a cult he has an interest in up there.â⬠ââ¬Å"Up thereâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ My mouth dropped open. ââ¬Å"You mean Vancouver, BC? You're sending me to Canada ?â⬠Fuck. I really had gone too far. There was also a Vancouver in Washington. That wouldn't have been so bad. At least I would have stayed domestic. ââ¬Å"He'd wanted a succubus since he only has one and couldn't spare her. They've got their work cut out for them up there, you know. I almost considered sending them Tawny.â⬠He made a face at the mention of his recently acquired and very, very inept succubus. ââ¬Å"But, well, she's notâ⬠¦optimal. I hadn't wanted to give up you either, but now I think it'll be worth missing my useful succubus for a while to get you out of my hair. I need some peace and quiet.â⬠ââ¬Å"Look, Jerome,â⬠I said, hoping I sounded penitent. ââ¬Å"What do you want me to do? Get another therapist? I can do that. I'll get a woman. An ugly one. And I'll try to lay off the attitude and-ââ¬Å" ââ¬Å"That's my decision, Georgie. You need something to occupy you, and this'll make Cedric happy. He figures a succubus is the best choice to infiltrate his little devil-worshipping cult.â⬠ââ¬Å"Devil wor-what, you mean like, Satanists?â⬠ââ¬Å"Something like that.â⬠I stared. ââ¬Å"Canadian Satanists? You're sending me to a group of Canadian Satanists?â⬠His only answer was a shrug. ââ¬Å"If this were happening to anyone else, it would be hilarious,â⬠I said. ââ¬Å"But why are you doing it? Since when do you help anyone-let alone another demon?â⬠Demons tended to be insanely competitive with each other. Again, Jerome didn't answer. He took out a cigarette-honestly, if he had his own, why'd he steal mine earlier?-and did the lighting trick again. He seemed a little less tense after taking a deep drag on it. ââ¬Å"Something else is going on,â⬠I said warily. ââ¬Å"You're using me to use him. What's this really about?â⬠ââ¬Å"Altruism,â⬠he said, rolling his eyes. ââ¬Å"Jeromeâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ââ¬Å"Georgina,â⬠he returned, eyes hard. ââ¬Å"You have no right to question this, not as much as you've pissed me off lately. Now go pack your things and brush up on the metric system.ââ¬
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