First it was the blacks. That one was easy, like a warm-up. They’re a cinch to pick out after all. Then it was the commies. They were harder, but with such catchy slogans, who could pass it up? Then came the terrorists. That one must have been fun. I mean, when you think about it, who ...

Don’t believe that bullshit they told you in orientation, kid. It’s always an easy sell. This is a new economy we’re dealing with. Trust the product. You trust the product, it’s an easy sell. You ever been to Lagos, kid? In Lagos, there’s these big bastards, carry around hyenas like ...

There was nothing special about Ming, nothing unique. She had no exceptional talents, no carefully-kept secrets, no inventive thoughts, no special intelligence. She liked to go to parties and shop for clothes and wanted to be a good mother someday. Her face was pretty, her hair and skin smooth ...

"Yesterday," Jason said, "I killed Marilyn Monroe." "Right." "No, I mean it. I really did." "I believe you," Thomas said, in a noncommittal tone. It worked like this: Jason was lying, or Jason was not lying. Lying /= not lying. He hadn't been in the complex for long enough to ...

"We've had a problem with the cursing, haven't we, dear?" Mr. Olivestone said, handing an iced tea to his wife. Helen Olivestone took it with a slight smile, but didn't drink from it until she meticulously removed every drop of condensation from the glass with a paper napkin. "Well, ...

"You can't have a ray gun," Jolie said as she dragged her pen across Jake's sheet. "They didn't even exist back then." "My character invented the ray gun," Jake clarified, and Tim snickered. "What? Somebody had to invent them." Above the terradome in Jolie's mother's living quarters, ...