“Wow,” M-Bot said. “You know emotions really well, Spensa. Particularly the stupid ones.” “I’ll take that as a compliment.” “So what do I do?” “Weather it,” I said. “Get better. Learn to accept that sometimes what you feel isn’t invalid, but that it doesn’t mean you have to act according to those feelings either.”

“But…stories say something. About us, and about where we came from. They’re a reminder that we have a past, a history. And a future.”

I’m not exactly a “there are nuances to this situation” type of girl. I’m more of an “if it’s still moving, you didn’t use enough ammunition” type of girl.

Then a scudding dinosaur came rampaging into camp—with a mustachioed human man riding on its back.

“Technically,” M-Bot said, hovering a few centimeters closer to him, “the word ‘sentient’ just means an ability to perceive and/or feel. Many people misuse this word. Instead, ‘sapience’ is the word for self-awareness—or intelligence like a human being. Which if you think about it is a human-centric definition. Those rascally humans and their lingu

Having the permission to stay had somehow given me the courage to leave.

You cannot be defined by your questions. Only by what you do with them.”

“Jorgen!” I shouted. “Fly! You’re in the middle of a firefight, idiot!” “I’m trying! It’s a little distracting to have your ship suddenly be haunted by the ghost of your not-dead girlfriend!” He steered the ship in a precise evasive pattern. I melted a little. Girlfriend? Was that how he thought of me? I mean, we’d kissed. Once. But…I didn’t think

Sometimes it’s too easy to forget the things you should remember—and far too easy to remember the things you really should forget.”