Alice

“torture.” Prabir turned to him. “You know what I hate most about you, Menéndez?” “No.” “Everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Everything that doesn’t kill me just fucks me up a bit more.” Felix grimaced sympathetically. “Irritating, isn’t it? I’ll see if I can cultivate a few more neuroses while you’re away, just to even things out a bit.” He took hold of Prabir’s hand between the seats, and stroked the all-but-vanished scar. “But if I’d met you when I was fucked-up myself, it probably would have killed us both.” “Yeah.” Prabir’s chest tightened. He said, “I won’t always be like this. I won’t always be dragging you down.” Felix looked him in the eye and said plainly, “You don’t drag me down.” Prabir’s flight was called. He said, “I’ll bring you back a souvenir. Do you want anything particular?” Felix thought about it, then shook his head. “You decide. Anything from a brand-new phylum will be fine by me.”
― Greg Egan, Teranesia