An Assassin takes orders.... from..... No One!.

Optimism is a most hopeless feeling, but I must retain it.

You're my favorite parasite.

No... ringworm's my favorite parasite, you're my second favorite parasite.

I lied... ringworn, then rats with the plague, then you.

Technological advance is an inherently iterative process. One does
not simply take sand from the beach and produce a Dataprobe. We
use crude tools to fashion better tools, and then our better tools to
fashion more precise tools, and so on. Each minor refinement is a
step in the process, and all of the steps must be taken.