"Earlier --? But you're not terribly old, are you?" Camilla's brows lowered in perplexity. "He was twenty-one. Well past what you'd call the formative years. The more entrenched a modus vivendi, the harder it is to break free from that mode, and this makes freedom all the more attractive. Isn't that a bit what you're talking about when you say you're outside your comfort zone? Wouldn't you rather the entire world be your comfort zone? To know you can do anything, anything you want without hesitation." Her lips curled in an odd little smile. It was not mocking, clearly, but it would be hard to tell what emotion did prompt it. One of those enigmatic smiles of hers. "Surely you're not in an uncomfortable situation now, are you? Having a drink with a friend, with me -- is that uncomfortable?"
When she spoke of fate and civilisation, it was as though Julian spoke through her. She'd put on his mantle more fully than even she imagined. "Artifice need not be useful to be beautiful. I don't really see a stigma inherent in artifice. That's what I meant, really; that I see no stigma inherent in the fact something may be artificial. To exist outside the tyranny of Nature, to transcend it -- it's a beautiful dream, in its own way. Mortal flesh cannot defy the inexorable rhythms of organic life, though we can if we so choose delay them. But what do you find puzzling about fate? A program, what you've programmed your robot to want or to do, is another name for fate. You can say that she is programmed to love, or you can say that she is fated to it. Fate allows as little choice; fate cannot be denied; fate is to mortal flesh as a program is to the inorganic flesh of your robot. That is not to say we do not carry the responsibility of navigating the choppy seas upon which Fate has cast us -- I don't mean to say that at all. Far from it." Camilla gave that one-shouldered shrug again, a mannerism the Macaulay twins shared. "I can't say I see a distinction between first love in general and the love that may occur at later points chronologically. What I see as interesting in your particular instance is that Lenore was never without you. She was always already yours. She did not live out some span of years in which she could formulate independent tastes, then meet you and find that you suited her. She came into existence and there you were."
no subject
When she spoke of fate and civilisation, it was as though Julian spoke through her. She'd put on his mantle more fully than even she imagined. "Artifice need not be useful to be beautiful. I don't really see a stigma inherent in artifice. That's what I meant, really; that I see no stigma inherent in the fact something may be artificial. To exist outside the tyranny of Nature, to transcend it -- it's a beautiful dream, in its own way. Mortal flesh cannot defy the inexorable rhythms of organic life, though we can if we so choose delay them. But what do you find puzzling about fate? A program, what you've programmed your robot to want or to do, is another name for fate. You can say that she is programmed to love, or you can say that she is fated to it. Fate allows as little choice; fate cannot be denied; fate is to mortal flesh as a program is to the inorganic flesh of your robot. That is not to say we do not carry the responsibility of navigating the choppy seas upon which Fate has cast us -- I don't mean to say that at all. Far from it." Camilla gave that one-shouldered shrug again, a mannerism the Macaulay twins shared. "I can't say I see a distinction between first love in general and the love that may occur at later points chronologically. What I see as interesting in your particular instance is that Lenore was never without you. She was always already yours. She did not live out some span of years in which she could formulate independent tastes, then meet you and find that you suited her. She came into existence and there you were."
(( modus vivendi: way of life/living. ))