The idea of sin and retribution is just an attempt to hide behind the shield of superstition. You are trying to find rational causes where there aren… - George Alec Effinger

Marriage was something I thought happened only to other people, like fatal traffic accidents.

“What do you know about the activities of the brain and the nervous system?”
I laughed. “About as much as any hustler from the Budayeen who can barely read and write his name. I know that the brain is in the head, I’ve heard that it’s a bad idea to let some thug spill it on the sidewalk. Beyond that, I don’t know much.” I did, truthfully, know some more, but I always hold something in reserve. It’s a good policy to be a little quicker, a little stronger, and a little smarter than everybody thinks you are.

Was that what he wanted, what the grand scheme of Utopia 3 was designed for? It was a lot like death, only more tedious.