I will not let him see the breath go out of me. I hardly let it go at all. I have been resigned for so long.
I make myself shrug. It's quite easy, after so long. "What might have been," I say. "Are we to deal in might-have-been, you and I, rather than will-be? I think not." I will not think about it. But. In the new dawn. Perhaps then.
I bow a little. "My compliments, then, sir," since he wears the illusion of maleness, I may as well let him have it, "on your long work. May you have the," not joy, since I think he has little of that, "satisfaction of it." I take off my dark glasses and look at him for a long moment. I do not think that the Manqueller Eye can do him any harm, though I feel it do its automatic work, and it is pleasant to look at someone straight.
I leave the tower. I am quite steady. It will serve him, his work, as he has served others. As will my own. I will have no regrets for that. I will not. There is no time.
no subject
I make myself shrug. It's quite easy, after so long. "What might have been," I say. "Are we to deal in might-have-been, you and I, rather than will-be? I think not." I will not think about it. But. In the new dawn. Perhaps then.
I bow a little. "My compliments, then, sir," since he wears the illusion of maleness, I may as well let him have it, "on your long work. May you have the," not joy, since I think he has little of that, "satisfaction of it." I take off my dark glasses and look at him for a long moment. I do not think that the Manqueller Eye can do him any harm, though I feel it do its automatic work, and it is pleasant to look at someone straight.
I leave the tower. I am quite steady. It will serve him, his work, as he has served others. As will my own. I will have no regrets for that. I will not. There is no time.