J.L. Haynes

“The defence shall cross-examine Zara Hanson,” he beckons her forward. “Would you tell the court how long we have known each other?”
“Well…” taken aback, she ponders how best to answer, “you could say days, but then again you could say several lifetimes. It feels like I’ve known you my whole life.”
“And in this time, would you say you trust my judgement?”
Unsure where this is going, she gives a terse reply.
“I’ve no reason not to.”
“I ask that you trust my defence and do not draw any forgone conclusions.”
“Okay?” Zara nods, her brow knits together with a look of curiosity. What’s he up to?
“Zara Hanson, what is love?”
“Well, you won’t find it anywhere near these jelly-beans,” she looks at the Elb.
“Please, tell us what love is—not that which it is not.”
“What is love?” Zara raises an eyebrow and smiles, “It is something indescribable, to categorise it would do its power a disservice.”
“And yet categorise it we must.” Ansebe’s skin changes its tone, pigments diversify a hypnotic effect, influencing her emotions, “Please—what is love?”
― J.L. Haynes, Zara Hanson & The Mystery of the Painted Symbol

“How do you know the body only holds one soul, it could hold tens of thousands.”
“Really?”
“My body is container for thought history of another. Although we do not recognize any separateness, we can work on same problem—two for the price of one, as you humans say.”
“And you believe this—why?”
“You ask if Ansebe has a soul—perhaps artificial is just a name—not what you believe artificial to be. No human could ever create life without a seed, yet I was made from just an egg, and a little knowhow. To answer questions of the soul, we ask, do we exist, are we real?”
― J.L. Haynes, Zara Hanson & The Mystery of the Painted Symbol

“There’s a certain way you can see the world as magical, but for many the price is too high.”
― J.L. Haynes

“..and then the mysterious Elb appear to rearrange the very fabric of reality itself. They do not travel through the vast expanse, instead space becomes a cocoon as they weave the strings of the universe into a silken-case, only to break it open, emerging at their destination. A form of travel so inexplicable that the Eyt have not developed the conceptual awareness to even measure the basic mechanics of such phenomena.”
― J.L. Haynes, Zara Hanson & The Mystery of the Painted Symbol