“Some of my Arcanum bunkmates taught me a card game called dogs-breath. I returned the favor by giving an impromptu lesson in psychology, probability, and manual dexterity. I won almost two whole talents before they stopped inviting me back to their games.”

“Ai taught me a Terran game played on squares with little stones, called go, an excellent difficult game.”

“But her brown eyes made me stop breathing. They made me stop thinking. It was like a sick game and I wanted out of it because I knew I'd lose.”

“It's called a confidence game. Why? Because you give me your confidence? No. Because I give you mine.”

“Right before the game, she strolled up to me. "Hey, Seaweed Brain.""Will you stop calling me that?"She knows I hate that name, mostly because I never have a good comeback. She's the daughter of Athena, which doesn't give me a lot of ammunition. I mean, "Owl-head" and "Wise Girl" are kind of lame insults.”

“I need some Starbucks. What about you? (Cassandra)Always game for java. Give me ground-up beans or give me death. (Katra)”