We don't have enough evidence to decide either way," Ricasso said, "so for now we may as well keep open minds. - Alastair Reynolds

And what keeps you going, exactly?" "Insulting my friends. Making new ones, to compensate for the ones I already insulted just a bit too much. You'd be surprised how much work those activities demand of me—it's practically a full-time occupation." "In fairness, you're getting very good at it.

Clavain saw it all with sudden, heart-stopping clarity: all that mattered was the here and now. All that mattered was survival. Sentience that bowed down and accepted its own extinction—no matter what the long-term arguments, no matter how good the greater cause—was not the kind of sentience he was interested in preserving.

There was something about the cocksure confidence of that statement that gave Auger goose pimples. It was like an invitation to fate.