S.J. Kincaid

“And he'd definitely never expected to ever have to tell someone, "All right, no killing and eating me, okay? I'm ready to go.”

“Come on, Beamer! I beheaded you for your own good.”

“Nigel Harrison Nigel Harrison'ed me?”

“What's being crazy like?" Wyatt blurted."That depends, Enslow. What's being tactless and completely inappropriate like?”

“Tom just stood there, sword in hand, a huge grin on his lips. He stared at Medusa and Medusa stared at him, and in this moment that made his dreams come true, Tom could only think of one thing to say."How's it going?”

“You're a spelling bee champ, aren't you, White Fang? How do you spell, 'If I don't learn to speak to my betters with more respect, I'm going to get my face smashed in'?"Tom laughed, unable to resist. "That one's easy. It's K-A-R-L.”

“Tom became distracted by the sight of his own boobs. He reached down to grab them. Wyatt cleared her throat."What?" Tom said defensively. "They're mine.""You aren't seriously planning to just sit there groping yourself in front of me, are you? That's kind of rude."Tom dropped his hands, a bit sheepish. "What, come on. You've got some new equipment, too. You're not curious?"Wyatt's armor clanked as she shifted awkwardly in her seat. "It's not like I haven't played sims as men before.""Right." Tom grinned. "So you've already done the groping thing.""That's not what I said! ”

“There's a dead guy on our floor," Tom pointed out."Yeah, that's Beamer, our neighbor." Vik stepped over Tom's bed, and kicked open a drawer beneath the mattress. He swept down and yanked out a bundle of fabric. "Here's your uniform.""There's a dead Beamer on our floor," Tom said again.”

“Medusa's lips split with that challenging smile, and for a second he recognized her somehow, he knew her on some primal level, the same way he'd recognized he behind the face of Brunhilde, the helmet of Achilles, or in hat ship maneuvering in space ,and then she flickered away. The simulation darkened around him. Tom pulled out his neural wire, Medusa's dangerous smile lingering in his brain.”

“Whenever he closed his eyes, he still saw her flying, fighting with ferocious genius. He still remembered that kiss.”

“Is that the only way?" Tom asked her. "Vik and I tried net-sending with a thought interface during Programming once, but I couldn't concentrate on just one thing at a time."Vik nodded. "His programming questions were always like, 'Vik, how do steak boobs function?”

“Those are some of the most powerful people in the world, and you swamped them in sewage! If you had real friends, they'd have told you that you're an idiot for even thinking about doing that!"Tom bristled, indignant. "My friends do tell me I'm an idiot. All the time!”

“We thought you fell down a hole and died somewhere.""Close. I was with Blackburn.”

“Die slowly, Tom.”

“You’ve downloaded this information,” Cromwell said briskly, “so let’s make sure you understand it. We’ve been examining the evolution of combat, weaponry, and tactics. History has shown one simple fact: people are people. Period. All the technology and progress in the world can’t change the fundamentals of human nature. There will always be war as long as human beings are capable of envy, hatred, and fear.”

“There really was nothing firm, nothing certain. Even here, even at this place where he thought he’d found something permanent—everything could change in a day. Everything could be lost so quickly.”

“She needs a proper supervillain name. Man Hands isn't doing it for me.""You're right. How about 'Evil Wench from the Darkest Reaches of Mordor'?”

“He likes her.""Yuri, no!" Vik said. Yuri turned redder, confirming it. "Yuri, come on, man," Tom cried. Yuri gave a helpless shrug. "Divisions cannot divide human hearts." "Oh God," Vik cried, clapping hands over his ears. "He's even spouting cheesy lines now. Make him stop, Tom!" "I can't!" Tom told him. "My ears... They're bleeding. Bleeding!" "It's a brain hemorrhage! He's murdered us!" Vik said. "Murderer!" Tom cried, fake collapsing onto the ground.Yuri shook his head. "This is not very mature.”

“He began to understand suddenly what friends were for: they reminded you that things weren't so bad after all. Reminded you never to stop laughing at yourself.”

“He had to live out the entirety of his life as Dalton Prestwick. It was really a worse fate than anything Tom could inflict on him.”

“That smile of hers could seriously crash planes.”