“Hormones are everything, Turpin,” she said to the bird on her shoulder. “Brains are nice, and looks are… — Charles Sheffield

“I think I’ll have a sign made for that far wall,” said Bey at last.

“Indeed?”

“Yes. It will say, ‘If you have nothing to do, please don’t do it here’.”

He had achieved his objective, but his little inside voice would not keep quiet. Too easy, it said, much too easy. When a difficult goal is achieved with no effort, it’s time to be suspicious.

“Did you do what I asked you to?”

“As much as I could. Have you ever tried to brief your boss, without telling her what’s going on?”

“A hundred times. It’s the first rule of self-preservation.”