Bay City public prosecutor's office wants to subpoena a Catholic who's in storage. Pivotal witness. The Vatican says she's already dead, and in the h… - Richard K. Morgan

I tried for the Envoys once," Trepp said suddenly.
I glanced sideways at her, curious. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, long time ago. They rejected me on profile. No capacity for allegiance, they said."
I grunted. "Figures. You were never in the military were you?"
"What do you think? She was looking at me as if I'd just suggested she might have a history of child-molesting. I chuckled tiredly.
"Thought not. See, the thing is, they're looking for borderline psychopathic tendencies. That's why they do most of their recruiting from the military in the first place."
Trepp looked put out. "I've got borderline psychopathic tendencies."
"Yeah, I don't doubt it, but the point is, the number of civilians with those tendencies and a sense of team spirit is pretty limited. They're opposing values. The chances of them both arising naturally in the same person are almost nil. Military training takes the natural order and fucks with it. It breaks down any resistance to psychopathic behavior at the same time as it builds fanatical loyalties to the group. Package deal. Soldiers are perfect Envoy material.

This was no time for thinking. Thought in combat was a luxury about as appropriate as a hot bath and massage.

Naturally these penalties were applicable only to private citizens, not military commanders or government executives. The powerful are jealous of their toys.