I see Chapter 4 is up now and Cugel is living up to the promise of the previous chapters.

Excuse the vernacular - "B****r"!

I have totally missed everything between my opening comment and here!

Serving Shark his entrees of sardines and calamari tentacles takes time!

Seriously though,
it is quite difficult to follow one's personal interests, and assist with administration!
On the admin side one has the tendency to look for 'issues' in haste and not recognise contributions like this.
I still have two chapters to go after refreshing myself on the first!

At last. I've gotten back to this and enjoyed reading through to the end of Chapter 4.

Sci-Fi does mean that one has to accept some constructs that the author deals you, but expect the plot to thicken. (The following glosses over what you can expect up to this point.)

I had no difficulty of acceptance, a secret controlling "master machine" with hypnotic therapy administered again by machines (but then allowing human interactions). Just for interest is the criminal side and although the therapy is rooted in sex one is not disappointed, some characters are allowed relationships outside of the clinical zone.

With the most respect for the time and dedication of Cugel I am impatient for more, but .... in his own time. Much appreciated.

Looks like the last chapter is up.

Hmm! Harriet Seldon, Cugel? Are you an Asimov fan by any chance, as well as a glutton for pseudo Shakespearian dialogue?