" You could have done this the easy way Jade," Lo Prang told her [Sam]. "I meant what I told you. If you joined my household, you'd be happy." He gestured with his cuffed hands towards his head. "A little tweak here and there. All this stress? All this hardship? I could have taken care of whatever problem you have. And you'd have contentment, the satisfaction of having a purpose in life, of knowing what it was, of having a master who loved you."

Sam stared at Lo Prang and shook her head.

Lo Prang smiled. "Trust me, Jade. I've never had happier staff than I do now. They come to me willingly, for what I can give them, for the satisfaction, the peace and contentment. Even the whores are happy."

Sam shuddered. "There are more important things than happiness," she told the man. "Doing the right thing. Doing what matters".

Lo Prang smiled at her. "The right thing? What matters? Those are just patterns in your brain, Jade. A few tweaks, and your right thing would be mine."

"Not in my lifetime," Sam told him.

Lo Prang shrugged. "You'll change your mind one day. I'll be waiting. "

― Ramez Naam , Crux (Nexus, #2)