Tally turned away. Five minutes was suddenly too long to stand here, eyes burning, unable to cry.

Tally turned away. Five minutes was suddenly too long to stand here, eyes burning, unable to cry.

Not everything made you stronger. It was possible to survive, yet still be crippled for your trouble. Sometimes it was okay to run away, to skip the test, to chicken out. Or at least to get some help.

We needed to become world-famous soon, while there was still that kind of world to be famous in.

Even mocking people helped their face stats. In the reputation economy, the only real way to hurt anyone was to ignore them completely. And it was pretty hard to ignore someone who made your blood boil.

Plot idea: 97% of the world's scientists contrive an environmental crisis, but are exposed by a plucky band of billionaires & oil companies.

Emperors are vain and useless things.