High Grades Quotes

“Kusha felt a tinge of pride, exponentially multiplied by her Low-Grade inferiority complex, reading this footnote. It worsened when ads started coming up on her HOME page after reading it. The ads had horrible titles:

Dream Youth For The Low Grades.
Alternate Longevity.
A Secret Pleasurable Way To Youth.
Get Your Dream Citizenship With Pleasing Pleasure Contract.

The last one is for non-citizens, of course. At least, she’s a citizen. But when Kusha discovered how many unevolved men and women enter such contracts just for citizenship, it made her face crease. As if she’d caught a nasty smell. For a moment, she even thought, she hated every High Grade in the world, including everyone in her adoptive family. Right now, standing in front of Meera, the hatred swells.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Does she really have no other identities except untouchable? A liar? It’s not as if she lies all the time. She only isn’t hundred percent truthful as a strong High Grade is.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“She gets all her old cars and tools from places you don’t want your daughters to visit. And Rashad Gaumont certainly doesn’t want her to visit Magic Mama, the not-evolved-enough, middle-aged man who lives in the Junk Land and works in the Old City. “He’s not a citizen! He lives in a bus! So what if he made it himself? So what if he teaches you about machines? Just don’t meet him.”

“Why?” Kusha used to ask Rashad, and she’d always get the same answer: “The unevolved kind brings chaos and wars.” ”
― Misba, The High Auction

“If nostalgia had a smell, it’d smell like her. He closes his eyes, removing the scent from his mind, just as an evolved Grade A should do—not let little thoughts infect his inner quiet.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“She’s rethinking her reasons to make it believable to herself first. Otherwise, it’d be a lie, and as a Grade A, she mustn’t lie.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“What do you believe, Ra? I’ll believe whatever you say.” The Monk turns at her, his complete attention now at her eyes.

Mee-Hae doesn’t reply for a long time. A High Grade’s words have weight; she must now think through what leaves her lips.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“A High Grade’s words have weight; she must now think through what leaves her lips.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Of course, it was a lie, and that bald man in a blue suit was definitely harassing her, teasing her with dirty, rude jokes. Nothing physical from the body of a High Grade can heal. No matter if it’s blood or sperm or saliva or even a discarded hair or nail—as some fraudulent religious groups claim, taking advantage of Low Grades’ fascination with the living gods among them. Though, the archive mentions a however as a footnote:

***However, when they pass strong prana (the energy controllable by the evolved, High Grade humans) to the sick or wounded, it heals, no matter whether they are plants or animals. Their prana flows strongly when they feel strong emotions. Some people say their sperm heals, but it’s not the semen. It’s the strong prana-boosts the High Grades experience when they reach climax during intimacy …

Kusha felt a tinge of pride, exponentially multiplied by her Low-Grade inferiority complex, reading this footnote.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“He closes his eyes, removing the scent from his mind, just as an evolved Grade A should do—not let little thoughts infect his inner quiet.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“When Kusha discovered how many unevolved men and women enter such contracts just for citizenship, it made her face crease. As if she’d caught a nasty smell.”
― Misba, The Oldest Dance

“Mastering time isn’t about stopping time, rather, slowing down its effects.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“Rashad and Meera Gaumont do everything without noise. All. The. Time. They’re High Grades—Grade A: 107-year-olds with ageless bodies, and they follow the Untouchable Code by heart.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“Not that they need to think about the don’t-get-laid-with-a-Low-Grade code anyway. They’re loyal to each other. High Grade couples who stay together for sixty years are rare.”
― Misba, The High Auction

“Yes, time. Win time, live in youth forever, and you’ll pass Grade A, but it’s not the end. Some evolve more, for the evolution of the mind is exponentially infinite. Some High Grades have been Grade A for fifty years. Fifty. Solid. Years!”
― Misba, The High Auction