“That's Becks. Always ready to offer a helping headshot.”

“You know, addressing my crazy by name doesn’t exactly help me stay sane,” I said. “Nothing can help you stay sane at this point, Mason,” said Becks. “That ship has sailed.”

“You all cool?" "I'm cool," confirmed Becks."I haven't been 'cool' since arriving in this godforsaken hellhole you persist in claiming is a civilized nation. I am, however, ready to go violate a few more laws.”

“Why is it you assholes always feel the need to tell the media your evil plans before you kill us?” asked Becks. “Is it a union requirement or something?”

“See, Berkeley has always drawn the nuts and flakes of the academic world. That's what happens when you have a university that offers degrees in both computer science and parapsychology.”

“You're crazy," pronounced Becks."And you're carrying eight guns," I replied. "Now that we've covered what everybody knows, can we move on?”

“[H]e looked at me gravely and asked, "Are you ready?" "No," I said. "I'm pretty sure I've never been ready for anything that had to be prefaced with that question.”