" Jacob Slater had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a vaguely defined condition which, in the final analysis, meant that people gave him the heebie jeebies. He didn’t like crowds, and he liked smaller groups of people even less. One-on-one contact with a person he didn’t already know was roughly as painful for him as a third-degree sunburn. "

― Robert Kroese , Mercury Rises (Mercury #2)