Kitty Mato

“On the 16th of Febuary 1312, when Isabella was aged sixteen years, the couple were at their hunting lodge when Edward suddenly took Isabella into his arms and began to kiss her and pay her a lot of attention, slowly and tenderly.”
― Michael G. Kramer, Isabella Warrior Queen

“The thought that the Mayan culture managed to calculate the Earth’s
passing through the plane of the Milky Way galaxy never failed to fascinate
Chuck. It was December of 2012 that had marked the end of the
Mayan calendar and also saw the Earth pass through that plane, the winter
equinox of 2012, to be precise. Of course, that exact date had been
disproved. The Mayans hadn’t accounted for leap year.
How could an ancient culture have calculated such a complex 26,000
year celestial cycle yet not figure in leap year? Yet another puzzle. Maybe
it was this rare event that accounted for the appearance of his comet.
His comet. Maybe he could be the one to officially make the discovery.”
― Jody Summers, The Mayan Legacy

“If the Agency could become a container for something neither Anna nor Mary had known before: a family. Now, without Caroline depending on her, Anna was alone. It did not taste good. There were voices inside: I am risking everything; I could lose everything.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“Why is your species so dissatisfied?”
“How so?”
“Humans are individuals, quite social in nature. You strive to
become more than yourselves using Silicon reconstructions in your
bodies and filaments in your brains connecting you, unnaturally, to
the NET.”
“Our bodies are mortal. We employ silicon and alloys to extend
our bodies’ existence.”
“You appear to be attempting the same strategy with your brains’
architectures.”
“By using the NET? Is that what you mean?”
“You will never accomplish this. You must know it.”
“Surely you can understand that as we are now, we have what we
consider a limited lifespan, and, it seems, so does this planet. When
the inevitable happens, we will not be able to travel any substantial
distance in space. We cannot escape our dying planet. Humanity will
cease to exist if we fail. We face our ultimate existential crisis as a species.
Our most basic instinct is the survival of our species, so you see
we must try. It is in our nature. It is evolution or elimination.”
― Brian Van Norman, Against the Machine: Evolution