I wish there was something we could do. But organised structure is the most precious thing in the universe… — Alastair Reynolds

The existence theorem says that it is always much easier to find a solution when you can be confident that one exists.

“Is he going to be okay?” Svetlana asked.

“He was dead, Svieta,” Axford said patiently. “Anything else has to count as an improvement.”

“We’ve never lied to you,” McKinley said.

“No,” Bella said, “but you’ve done a damned good job of not correcting any of my assumptions.”