You smoke?" "Smoke? Do I look like a fucking idiot? - Richard K. Morgan

I paused and set down my glass, searching for the fine edge of deceit that always lies right up against the truth.

When I was younger I used to go out looking for squalid brawls in the streets of Newpest. This got a couple of people stabbed, neither of them me, and led in turn to my apprenticeship in one of the Harlan’s World gangs, Newpest chapter. Later on I upgraded this kind of retreat by joining the military: brawling with a purpose, and with more extensive weaponry, but as it turned out, just as squalid. I don’t suppose I should have been as surprised as I was—the only thing the Marine Corps recruiter had really wanted to know was how many fights I had won.

The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.