The Swan Riders

"So what if they do shoot? I have stage three scarring, I`ve lost three quarters of my mind, people I love keep trying to kill me, and I`m going to catch a cold. I fail to see how much worse this could get." "Greta could be killed," said Francis Xavier. He didn`t sound as if he cared particularly. Talis sighed a long, careful sigh. "Right. When you ask if things could possibly get worse, the answer is always yes. Greta, make a note."

I know it was horrific. But Greta, you survived it. You`re the person who survived it. Come on. You`re still that person. Be that person.

AIs do not remember. We relive. Our memories are too perfect. We cannot tell the memory of pain from pain; cannot tell the memory of fear from fear. Talis was looking at me with wide blank eyes and inside them was the time he`d been on fire. But instead of screaming, he smiled. Sri was openly staring at him. And I did too, stared at the only person I had ever met who could grim while he was burned alive. How did he do that?