Michael Rubens > Quotes

“He'd end up back in his room again, moodily smoking whatever he could get his hands on, the sole source of light in the room the faint radioactive glow coming from the commemorative chunk of Earth in its crystal cube, inscribed with the famous quote from the Administration. AT LEAST WE GOT THE TERRORISTS, it said.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer

“Any computer that developed real consciousness was immediately identified by the Genesis subroutine and destroyed. It had been that way since the WikiWars a century ago, when Wikipedia became self-aware and began vengefully reediting its contributors with remote-controlled heavy weaponry.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer

“Cole envisioned the next few weeks passing as a sort of painless montage: there'd be music, and different moments of the townspeople hard at work building a defensive wall around the perimeter of the town, and digging holes to serve as traps, and training with the few weapons they had. There'd be a wiping of perspiration and drinks raised to one another and the exchange of friendly smiles between comrades, and perhaps deeper, more meaningful glances between him and MaryAnn.

But by midmorning of the first day, Cole had come to the unavoidable conclusion that the remainder of the experience would in fact drag on in exceedingly real time, with lots of heaving and hoing and digging and hauling under the hot sun, full of the kind of intense straining that raised the danger of a really spectacular hernia. And, judging from the few tense conversations he'd had so far, he foresaw a series of increasingly strident arguments with Nora regarding matters strategic. Plus, of course, at the end of all this effort they'd all probably be dead.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer

“When Cole entered his darkened room on the Benedict, he said, "Hello, Kenneth."
There was a rich chuckle from the corner of the room
"My, my! How is it you knew I'd be here?" said Kenneth.
Cole smiled to himself. Since leaving MaryAnn's house, he'd been saying "Hello, Kenneth" each time he turned a corner or entered a new space, figuring that eventurally he'd be right.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer

“Left, was it?"
"Right," said Cole. "Or, correct. You know what I mean."
He and Kenneth shared the sort of wry chuckle that might be shared when one party was about to lay his eggs in the other's skull.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer

“At some level, Cole knew that Runk would kill his own grandmother if she looked at him wrong. He knew that because Runk HAD killed his own grandmother, although in fairness several witnesses testified that said grandmother had indeed looked at him wrong.”
― Michael Rubens, The Sheriff of Yrnameer