Game Designers

"Be careful. Be diplomatic. Try not to blow anything up."

"Irene didn’t need Vale’s deductive skills to tell her she was in trouble. But there was something liberating about this. She was surrounded by known enemies, not politics. And she didn’t have anyone to worry about—apart from herself."

"“There is no truth to peace,” she said. “Peace is at best a brief interlude between hostilities. The treaties which might be signed here are no more than lies. The field of battle is more honest.”"

"You can’t trust people in power, dearie. They’ll say whatever they want, all the witnesses will be paid to agree, and then you’re behind bars till the end of your days. Or worse."

"They did attempt to leave the European Union last year, but apparently that was prompted by demonic interference."

"Sometimes the obvious answer is the true answer."

"Walking through a library—any library—as they made their way to the exterior had its usual comforting, balancing effect on Irene. It was a reassurance that such places existed and that they would continue, even if she herself was as temporary as any other human."

"What is written can be erased, alas."

"And, really, Erda had put the basic problem in a nutshell. Everyone here viewed damage to their own particular interest as more significant than damage to anyone else’s. Whatever the scale of the damage."

"The room on the other side was elegant and gracious, even in the moonlight that slanted in through the long rectangular windows. It breathed with the scent of old books and wax polish: the dark volumes that filled the shelves promised countless secrets, and Irene itched just to reach out and touch them."

"All that fear, all that paranoia, and all of it based on a lie simply to keep convenient control of this world. Maybe there were no universal standards of morality—but this was still just plain wrong."

"“I have no intention of signing up to her crusade,” Irene said. “To anyone’s crusade.”"

"It was the sort of overly complex plan dreamed up by armchair manipulators who thought they could play chess with the universe and didn’t realize that the universe ignored rulebooks."

"She was trying to work out who these men were working for. Were they Qing Song’s minions, random gangsters, specific gangsters, or undercover police? So many enemies, so little time."

"The news was highly coloured, even if the print was black and white."

"She’d thought the situation couldn’t get much worse. She’d been wrong. The situation could always get worse."

"“I dislike the fact that she treated you like a servant,” Kai commented. His voice had an undertone to it that promised reprisals. “Leave it for the moment,” Irene said wearily. “I’m not going to waste my time feeling insulted. And don’t you think we’ve got more serious problems to consider? Much more serious problems?”"

"“I have spent most of my life preferring books to people,” Irene said sharply. “Just because I like a few specific people doesn’t change anything.”"

"They blew up a library. A library, Kai. They haven’t just offended me, they have attacked and insulted every single citizen of this place who used that library, who contributed to it, who even so much as might have used it someday in the future."

"There were clear class divisions among the protestors: the upper-class ones stood back and gave the orders, while the lower-class ones did the actual work. Some things didn’t change, no matter how many worlds you visited."

"There were so many possible logical holes in that statement that Irene could have used it as a tea-strainer."

"“I think my point holds. People want stories. You should know that more than anybody. They want their lives to have meaning. They want to be part of something greater than themselves. Even you, Miss Winters, want to be a heroic Librarian—don’t you? And if you’re going to say that people need to have the freedom to be unhappy, something that’s forced on them whether they like it or not, I would question your motivation.” She paused for a single deadly second. “Most people don’t want a brave new world. They want the story that they know.”"

"“Maybe it’s like being a parent,” she said, bringing up a Library map. “You never really see your children as adults.” “You’re exaggerating,” Kai said, with the easy confidence of someone who hadn’t tested the issue yet."

"She wasn’t actually going to lie, but there was…well, there might be an element of flexibility."

"“My brother and I used to live in Rome,” she invented. “Rome.” The other woman turned up her nose a little. “Well, I suppose people have to live somewhere.”"

"Here and there people sat at desks, carefully turning the pages of manuscripts, or unrolling scrolls and making notes. It comforted her. This is a place built to store books, by people who wanted to preserve books, and used by people who want to read those books. I am not alone."

"The problem with paranoia was that if you let it rule all your decisions, then you would miss some perfectly good opportunities."

"Blind faith is just another word for slavery."

"“What business is it of mine if they should want to kill each other? I’d say they both show excellent judgement.” “Sounds about right to me,” Evariste said harshly. “Not my circus, not my monkeys. If they want to tear each other to bits, they can get on with it, and good luck to them.”"

"The atmosphere of the place soothed her automatically; the rich lantern-lights, the sheer scent of paper and leather, and the fact that everywhere she looked, there were books, books, beautiful books."

"If my friends—my brothers and sisters—have sacrificed themselves, then it was their choice. You, on the other hand, have lied to us and kept us in the dark and used us. You’re probably going to tell me that you did it for a higher cause, that you were just protecting us. But true higher causes don’t have everyone deserting them when they find out the truth, grandmother. Genuine ethical purposes don’t have everyone walking out once they know what’s really going on. And causes that people care enough to die for…”"

"“Are there other Librarian ghosts here?” she asked. “Ghosts? Yes, I suppose that’s the best word for it. Collections of memories, maybe. We are all the sum of our memories, after all.”"

"We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be focusing on what’s important."

"“You mean me entering the Library may have destroyed the universe?” Catherine asked “You don’t need to sound quite so impressed by it,” Irene chided. “It’s not something you want on your yearly performance review.”"

"Don’t you realize you have a responsibility to other people to look after yourself?"

"Irene realized she was on the point of shouting. Worse, of being ungrammatical. She took a deep breath."

"“Everyone’s being hypocritical,” she muttered. “Is there anyone around here who doesn’t want something from us while acting innocent? We need to find out what’s really going on before everyone does the wrong thing for the right reasons.”"

"I think the time for blind trust is long over. Now I need answers."

"There were things to do, people to see, questions to ask. Books to read."

"“I met one (that is, a dragon) once,” Irene said. “What did you talk about?” “He complimented me on my literary taste.” Kai blinked. “Doesn’t sound like a life-threatening sort of conversation.”"

"First things first. Get the facts, then decide what to do next. And hope that there is a next."

"You must surely know by now, Winters, that a leader’s authority is limited to giving her followers orders that they will actually obey."

"She did find that the books displayed prominently in every chamber had been dusted, but the spines were pristine and uncreased. They had the sad, untouched air of literature paraded for display purposes but never actually used. It was profoundly depressing."

"“On the surface, it’s crazy, right?” “It’s crazy down beyond the surface, too,” Dora affirmed."

"“How would you answer their demand for justice and vengeance?” “I would begin by insisting that justice and vengeance are different. Vengeance is often blind to reason: all it can see is the object it hates. Conversely, justice is blind to our preferences and prejudices; all it may see are the deeds and the conditions under which they were carried out.”"

"That’s one thing I’ve noticed about war, Richard: there’s always more than enough irony to go around."

"Idrem sensed Brenlor swinging toward the rash reactivity that the Srin often mistook for decisive action when confronted with a crisis."

"“You think she’ll make it?” “She should. Unless something else goes wrong.” Tsaami’s tone was sour. “Caine: this is a battlefield. Something else always goes wrong.” To which Riordan had no ready response. After all, Karam was right."

"“I do not disagree with you, Bannor Rulaine. But in my culture, when tradition is challenged by law, the law is often twisted, construed, and reconstrued until it can be made to conform with tradition. I believe your word for this is teleology: where a result is decided before the process debate or discovery is initiated.” O’Garran snorted. “Fancy word for saying, ‘they’re going to have it their way, no matter what.’”"

"“You would have been quite pleased if Hitler had won World War II. That would have made your job easier for you.” Sukhinin, whose family was said to have suffered horribly in his nations Great Patriotic War against the Nazis, wore a smile that was more reminiscent of bared teeth. Shethkador’s reply was almost casual. “Of course we would have preferred that outcome. You would have been preacculturated to our ways.” Downing raised an eyebrow. “So Adolf Hitler is your idea of an ubermensch?” “Hitler? A superior being? Fate, no. Do not mistake our approval of the ethos of a regime for admiration of its leader. Hitler was a weak, superstitious amateur whose profound insecurities and absolute in ability to perceive himself accurately ultimately caused the downfall of his project.” “How so?” “Is it not obvious? Firstly, he surrounded himself with those like himself; fanatics who were also cranks, individuals whose personal derangements or need for rationalizing their own inferiority led them to a psychopathic projection of their own feelings onto others. The true object of their exterminations was what they most feared and loathed in themselves; weakness, insufficiency, flaccidity, cowardice. They could not admit this, of course, so they protected the roots of their self-hatred by ensuring that these traits were not the overt criteria upon which their social extirpations were based. Rather, they demonized specific groups and then attributed these treats to them, thereby amplifying the political appeal of their movement by invoking traditional prejudices and stereotypes through suitably crafted propaganda.”"