Home > Work > Fluency (Confluence, #1)
1 " For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. "
― Jennifer Foehner Wells , Fluency (Confluence, #1)
2 " Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. "
3 " It’s all just ones and zeroes no matter where you go in the universe. "
4 " I’m not getting much penetration here!” Gibbs yelled.“Aim for an open mouth!” Walsh barked. “It’s their weakest point! When you empty the cartridge, load armour piercing rounds!”Alan shouted, “For the record, I’m very uncomfortable firing ballistics inside a space ship! "
5 " You’re supposed to be the damsel in distress. We’re supposed to save you.” She snorted and pulled her hand away. “Times have changed.” “But what does that make us? Two dudes in distress? Pathetic. "
6 " He’d picked up on the structure and rules of the alien code quickly, drawing parallels to his extensive knowledge of code on Earth. He’d riffed, “It’s all just ones and zeros no matter where you go in the universe, Jane. "
7 " Our government has no interest in nearly extinct languages. They barely have a grasp on the one they use. "
8 " Warmth flooded her body and she felt her skin flush, sweat prickling her hairline. Pain dissipated to nothing but a numb, hollow feeling. Some combination of drugs seeped into her, promoting pain relief and relaxation. She felt her taut muscles yielding, even as a network of filamentous webs encased her and tugged her lower into the gel. Her arms grew heavy and sank into the gel of their own volition. Or had they been pulled there? "
9 " Technology serves life. It does not destroy it. These lessons are rooted in the very foundations of Sectilius culture and law, without deviation, under threat of penalty of strictest nature. "
10 " I have a bathroom that’s bigger than this thing,” she said in a thick, pinched voice. He grinned at her. “Sure. But can your bathroom manage twenty-five-thousand miles per hour? "
11 " I don’t have the finesse you seem to think I have. "
12 " You see, we—all of us—are alike at our core. From the lowest microorganism to the highest form of Sentient, we share the most basic aspects of all living things from protein folds to cellular organization. The secrets lie within the dual nature of intron and exon—expression and suppression and recombination of these—allowing life to seek infinite forms. "
13 " I know it’s okay. I’m just fucking tired of playing Princess Buttercup to your Wesley. Next time, I’m rescuing you, goddamn it. "
14 " The common language was latent within you, a component of genetic memory, given to you by the Cunabula. "
15 " Bergen slammed his chest into his straps. “Yeah, in simulations, you nut job! What if they got it wrong? Slow the fuck down, already! We didn’t come all this way to die on the approach! "
16 " He looked a bit crazed. They all did. They all smelled terrible too. Microgravity did something to both olfaction and body odor that wasn’t pleasant. She’d ceased to notice it long ago, except when she got too close to one of them. She put a lot of effort into avoiding that, though it was difficult. It was bad enough that they had to put water to their lips knowing that by now the lion’s share of it was recycled urine. There wasn’t enough water to do more than sponge-bathe and even that was done sparingly by necessity. The men could shave if they chose, with a built-in vacuum-assisted electric shaver, but they’d given up the pretense of civilized grooming months ago. They didn’t look like they belonged in this twenty-first-century ship on its maiden voyage. They looked like Neanderthal thugs who had hijacked it. "
17 " Then his eyes traveled down and his expression darkened. He clearly liked what he saw. He seemed to come to himself with a guilty start and turned away to busy himself with his gear. "
18 " Why did they need to be alone to do that? It’s not like she hadn’t watched them before when they thought she was sleeping. She’d teased them that they sounded like monkeys. "
19 " But, why give her all of this? "
20 " We were meant to be this way. Not to fight the worst aspects of our nature, but to embrace them.” “Just so. To exploit your inherent qualities, in the service of others. It is the belief of many that they hoped to create a warrior class that would turn the tide, yet leave their brethren to live in peace. To respect the diversity and protect it. "