" We study machines, and train our mind to mirror them. This ship holds many systems: Cloud engines interlace with crude chemical and subspace drives. We learn systems so we may learn our selves. A mind is as complex as a mindforge—but subtler; so subtle most beings cannot comprehend even their simplest thought in its entirety. We study so that when we are thrust against the limits of our own minds, we can break ourselves.” “Why would we—sorry, why would you want that?” “Ancient sages have written: what you cannot break, you do not own.” She recognized that line, handed down however many millennia. "
― Max Gladstone , Empress of Forever