Overheard Starbuck

"There's nothing like watching one's reflection fade in the stare of a sadist.--seeing their anticipation of mastery melt into the certainty of boredom. Sometimes they'll shed a tear. You can get a glimpse of the synthetic organs and organizations which control their controls. New plastic-alloys are replacing the gems and the crome. New open, hipper bureaurats replacing the men in grey and the women in black and blue. The ice- cold sadness is the same."
---"Isn't it dangerous to look in their eyes?"