Tubby had done what she could running numbers; she needed information. When she came to Dr. Lai, he laughed. "Look, Tubby, I don't know how many amps per second the quadriceps generates or any of that stuff. This is one hundred percent of you need to know: The quadriceps generates a hell of a lot more electricity when you're standing than when you're sitting."

That made sense. Tubby frowned. "So why do they make us sit?"

"Because Bio-E isn't about Bio-E. It's about sitting."

"Bullshit. There's a government subsidy."

"Congress hasn't assessed the science, or if they have, they don't care. Look, I don't know the details, but how hard can it be? Everyone in government has old parents they don't have time to care for, everyone wants to score points on green energy. The homes like the idea of keeping people in one place because they can reduce costs by cutting staff. And the companies line up to meet demand."

"You worked that all out by yourself, did you?"

Dr. Lai shrugged. "Think what you want, Tubby. You're the physicist. But as far as I'm concerned, they're lucky if they suck enough 'Bio-E' out of you to power the LEDs on the machine."