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41 " Something about him made her watch him, his big hands held out to receive the falling drops, alms of heaven, catching them in his mouth, smiling as they streamed down his face, his chin, his cheeks. Her heart sent her one way. Her feet sent her another, "
― Ian McDonald , Out on Blue Six
42 " satire is not a thing the Compassionate Society has a need for anymore. It’s good, it’s clever, damn it, it’s funny, but it’s not Socially Responsible.” She could hear the capitals slamming into place like steel teeth. "
43 " There was a tight singing in her ears she had not heard since her childhood days in the community crèche: the tight singing noise you hear when you are trying not to cry. "
44 " Sometimes he irritated her so much that she wanted to throw him back to the rain. The way he sat, the way he watched; watched, watched; what? Rain. And his questions, his utter and absolute ignorance. "
45 " It’s all very clever, all very droll, it may even be true, it may even be deserved, but it’s still criticism. Do you think those folk down there really want to know that the Seven Servants are nothing but a pack of computer-run, money-grabbing, capitalist leftovers from an unhappier age; that the Polytheon is nothing but a jumble of corporate-personality simulation programs that got out of hand; that their beloved Elector is just a crazy athleto who got pulled out of a gym one night and stuck on the Salamander Throne; that the Ministry of Pain is run by professional incompetents who got promoted beyond their natural ability because the Compassionate Society wants everyone to do the job which makes them happiest, irrespective of whether they are any good at it? You think that would make them any happier, no matter how funny you make the faces or the walks or the words? "
46 " To take away those people’s faith in their Compassionate Society; the faith that the Ministry of Pain, the Seven Servants, the Polytheon, care for them as individuals and want nothing more than their individual happinesses; you think this will make them happy? "
47 " Something about him made her watch him, his big hands held out to receive the falling drops, alms of heaven, catching them in his mouth, smiling as they streamed down his face, his chin, his cheeks. Her heart sent her one way. Her feet sent her another, splashing across the street to his side. "
48 " Tell me this, then, what are you giving them that the Compassionate Society cannot? Questions? Doubt? Uncertainty? Criticism, cynicism, sneering cheap laughs? Hurt? Pain? "
49 " Was he some test from the Ministry of Pain? Some awful assessment, and if so, had she passed or failed? "
50 " You must be some kind of arrogant creature if you think that just because something is true for you it must be true for everyone. What right have you to tell them, ‘Sorry, it’s all false, all an illusion’?” Courtney Hall rallied under the stunning attack. “Even if it is?” “Even if it is. The Compassionate Society isn’t perfect, I’m not naive enough to believe that it is, but it’s the most perfect we’ve got. What right have you to try and take away happiness, false or not, illusory or not? "
51 " What right have you to try and take away happiness, false or not, illusory or not?” “Because I believe there must be something more important than happiness. Accountability. Quality. Satire.” “Not "
52 " the monsoon rains rained, rained, rained down on the streets of Yu. And he would watch them, and the questions would begin again. So much he did not understand about the condition of being human. "
53 " What right have you to try and take away happiness, false or not, illusory or not?” “Because I believe there must be something more important than happiness. Accountability. Quality. Satire.” “Not in the Compassionate Society. "
54 " Hunger. The first word he had spoken as BeeJee &ersenn knelt beside him on the streaming cobbles. He had rubbed his hands across his belly and said, “Why do I feel this?” Such an incredible question. "
55 " She was halfway to Tixxi Teshvalenku’s desk when the voice came chasing her from the office-jungle: “We can’t have blatant PainCrime on the front page of the city’s most important newssheet!” “Newssheet shug!” Courtney Hall shouted. “There hasn’t been any news in this city for years. For centuries! "
56 " All the way down in the elevator to the level-forty cablecar junction, her famulus lectured her from her bag. “That really wasn’t very Socially Harmonious of you, Courtney, that was a Category Three PainCrime and I feel I must also remind you that you are leaving your work two full hours ahead of your optimum psychofiled quitting time as prepared for you by the Department of Personpower Services … "
57 " Whatever it was in his eyes she had seen, it made her take him home with her. I shouldn’t be doing this, she told herself as she spooned her fleech-mush into a bowl and reconstituted it with water in the dispenser. A nonsocialised introversion level 6 winger with Grade 3 narcissistic tendencies doesn’t do this. "
58 " I really think you should consider meeting with a Social Harmony counselor for a course of therapy— "
59 " Faces, places … such and such a face appeared at such and such a place, such and such a face disappeared at such and such a place, such and such a face was always in the third seat from the left when she got on, such and such a face was always hanging from the strap by the door when she got off … same faces, same places. But not today! Today those faces are two hours behind Courtney Hall, it’s different faces today, let’s have a look at them, what do we see? "
60 " All separate, independent nation states bristling behind borders one centimeter greater than the surface area of their skins. Never talking. Never ever talking: privacy infringement, caste-breaking, SoulCrime, PainCrime, help! call the Love Police! "