"He just wouldn't go crazy," Jones was repeating. "We tried everything. Jenny - Miss Simpson I mean - she thought we must have done something wrong. So we put him in with the second batch and ran it all over again. But he wouldn't react! You can see the others over in the big cage. They all went into shock. But he..."
Harris nodded again, trying to pretend interest. He'd read the report already. They had tried every type of pressure and unexpected punishment on the rat they called Muley. They confused punishments, mixed food with electric shocks, and generally made life hell for the poor little beast. But Muley refused to cooperate; he simply accepted the whim of fate and waited them out.
Now Harris cut off the flow of words. "All right, Jones. You'd better dispose of those others."
"And Muley?"
"Muley?" Harris smiled down at the rat, then began opening the cage. "No, Jones. Nothing that simple for him. I've been waiting twenty years to find one of his kind. I've got a lot of special things for him."
Very special, he thought. Poor Muley!
He picked up the rat in his hands and went out, stroking the gray fur approvingly. Muley stared back at him calmly.