Our records must be scrupulous, whether they show what we want them to show or not. - Michael Swanwick

It was a scream straight from the toad buried at the base of the brain, that ancient reptile that wants everything at once, delivered to its feet and set ablaze.

We had ambition, and ascended into Hell.

It's inspired lunacy," Leyster agreed. Chuck looked crestfallen. "Right up there with continental drift, or the notion that birds might be descended from dinosaurs." Chuck brightened. "But it's also right up there with Eric Van Danniken and Lamarckian genetics. Until we've tested it out, it's just a nifty hypothesis, no more.