Defy the Stars

The opposite of faith isn’t doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty.

Your soul is bigger than your programming.

Where there’s no free will, there’s no sin.

We are this world. Its next generation. If you’re not trying to save us, then what exactly are you trying to save?

I thought you were opposed to engaging in prostitution to fund our travels.” “That’s not what I—is prostitution your answer for everything?

Silently he traces out a new constellation, one only he knows. One with Noemi at the very heart.

Because of you, I've had adventures on every world of the loop. I've made my first real friends. I broke free from Mansfield, and I found out what it would mean to love someone. Because of you, I've been truly alive. And now that I've lived, I can be ready to die for something I believe in and the person I love.

Ester would tell her to dance faster, leap higher, to laugh out loud with all the breath in lungs. That’s what the dead would tell the living, if they could—to grab hold of joy whenever it comes.

…victory that comes from the sacrifice on an innocent isn’t a victory. It’s the end of us.

Abel. I can’t let you…sell your body.” “The transaction is closer to a rental.

That's what the dead would tell the living, if they could - to grab hold of joy whenever it comes.

She looks up into the darkening sky, she knows she'll never stop hoping. Never stop searching the stars, wondering whether any of them could be the one Abel someday calls home.

It isn't as hard to leave life behind, he thinks, once you've had a life worth living.

This is the last time Abel lets the humans make the plans.

Noemy says, “I guess it’s just the idea of love I miss. And, well, it was a good kiss.” Her smile turns rueful. “At least I got some practice.” A wonderful idea occurs to Abel. “Do you need more practice?” “Huh?” “We could practice, if you wanted."He smiles as he starts to explain."Remember what I told you on Genesis? I’m programmed with a wide array of techniques for providing physical pleasure, via every activity from kissing to the more arcane positions for sexual intercourse. Although I’ve never performed any of them before, I’m confident I could do so very skillfully.” She stares at him, eyes wide. Since she is swift to voice objections if she has them, Abel takes her silence as an encouraging sign. So he sits up on the bed to explain the further compelling reasons now coming to mind. “Humans need a certain amount of physical release and comfort in order to be psychologicallly healthy. You’ve been away from your family and friends for some time, and have endured considerable trauma, suggesting you are in even greater need than usual. I have all the information and technique necessary to be an excellent partner, my body is designed to be appealing, and of course I can neither carry disease nor impregnate you. We have total privacy and many hours of spare time. Conditions for intercourse would seem to be ideal.

Maybe it's not a love the way a human would feel it," he says. "Maybe it's only a... simulation of love, a close analogue. But I feel it with all the strength I have to feel anything. Over the past weeks I've come to - to listen for your voice, because I hope to hear it. I pay attention to irrelevant details of your mannerisms and appearance because I find them pleasing. I've begun to understand how you think and what you want. That means I can see through your eyes, too, instead of only my own, and it's as if the entire universe expanded, grew larger and more beautiful." He pauses. "You even make me think in metaphors.

Artificial lights gleaming brilliantly in the dark, all along ever street, because Earth residents seem to consider day and night as mere states of mind.

…one world’s poison might be another’s salvation

The moment when faith becomes more than rules, you've been taught," Noemi says. "When it becomes a living spirit within you, and guides you. When you're open to God's love and are finally able to show that love to others. I go to church like everyone else, and I pray and I hope...but I've never felt it. Sometimes I think I never will.

Please stop sniffing the robot boy, Noemi tells herself, jerking out of the trance.

Because of you, I’ve been truly alive. And now that I’ve lived, I can be ready to die for something I believe in and the person I love.

Sometimes she wishes she could turn herself inside out. That way people would see the good in her before they saw the bad.

Where there’s no free will, there’s no sin. If you—if you can’t help it—I know you tried. Thank you for trying—

That’s what the dead would tell the living, if they could—to grab hold of joy whenever it comes. So

We’ll have to devise another means of income.” “How?” “At this point, our swiftest and more reliable means of making money is prostitution.” “You–you didn’t just say– you think I should become a prostitute?” “Of course not. You’re my commander. I serve you. Therefore, I would be the more logical choice to take on sex work.” … “Abel, I can’t let you.. sell your body.” “The transaction is closer to a rental.

I did not mean that I would die for you because you're human. I would die for you because I love you.

Because of you, I've been truly alive. And now that I've lived, I can be ready to die for something I believe in and the person I love.

one world’s poison might be another’s salvation

We can do this, she reminds herself, looking over at Abel. It feels natural to use we. They’re in this together now. She remembers how tenderly he cared for her when she was sick and marvels at how strange and yet wonderful it is to trust someone that much.

If you could pay a debt of honor without it costing you anything, you wouldn't have really repaid it, would you?