Clavain saw it all with sudden, heart-stopping clarity: all that mattered was the here and now. All that… — Alastair Reynolds

Clavain saw it all with sudden, heart-stopping clarity: all that mattered was the here and now. All that mattered was survival. Sentience that bowed down and accepted its own extinction—no matter what the long-term arguments, no matter how good the greater cause—was not the kind of sentience he was interested in preserving.

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