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not a taboo! Look at it all lined up like this, Watanuki, and
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you can tell just how calculating that woman is."
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Avoiding happiness.
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Avoiding pressure.
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"A word as forthright and flamboyant as 'urges' hardly
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describes such a slipshod methodology. What she does is sim-
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ply a compromise. It seems you are not among them,
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Watanuki, but there are any number of people who do not
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like being exalted, do not like being thought highly of, and
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the vast majority of those people invariably choose the
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second-best option."
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60161
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OUTERHOLIC
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The second-best option.
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"A problem of balance and swift adjustment. Nobody can
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afford to keep the gas pedal down all the time, can they?
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You'd never make it around the next corner. You could boil it
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down to overcautiousness, or underestimating oneself, but ei-
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ther way, refusing to accept a normal amount of happiness
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can hardly be described as the right thing to do."
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"The right thing to do?"
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"It is your duty to accept a measure of happiness equiva-
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lent to the actions you have taken. Rejecting it violates your
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contract with yourself If your effort is not rewarded, your
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soul rebels."
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"R b I
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"
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e es ...
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"You could also say it overflows. If you do the work to re-
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ceive the best option, then you must accept that option as
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d "
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your rewar .
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That was the fair price.
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A fair price could neither be undercut nor overpaid.
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Yilko pointed her pipe at the seat where Kushimura had
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been a few minutes before.
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"Stop herself from doing what she doesn't want to do ...
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a fascinating turn of phrase, and one that makes no sense.
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The fact that she doesn't want to do those things suggests she
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is already stopping herself from doing them-very calculat-
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edly. She may well have a black belt in stopping herself
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Never once leaving the realm of safety, never even going
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close to the fence around the realm. The only question is, to
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what extent is she herself aware of this?"
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o Over}'IOIw
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The word used for "rebellion" or" "revolt" is a homonym of the word for
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"flood" or "overflow." Both words are read hanrall.
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•
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ANOTHERHOLlC, LANDOLT·RI NG AEROSOL
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" ... If she puts those glasses on," Watanuki said, trying to
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hide how shaken he was, "will she really ... be able to choose
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the path that's best for her?"
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"Of course not," Yilko said, as if it were obvious. "Those
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are an ordinary pair of fake glasses."
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"Eh ... but ... then ... "
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"Watanuki, you said it yourself. Have you already forgot-
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ten how pompously you lectured me for deceiving her? You
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must be suffering from amnesia."
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"No, I mean, you're right, but ... then what was the point
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of it all?"
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"There is a point ... just not a dramatic one."
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Watanuki waited.
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"I merely provided an opportunity."
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She had not become any more involved than that:
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"Watanuki, you always wear glasses. But if you were to
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take them off, do you think you wouldn't be able to see spir-
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its anymore?"
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"Huh ?"
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"Or if you close your eyes. That would prevent you from
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seeing them. Even more extreme-you could gouge both
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eyes out. Would that get rid of the spirits that gather around
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you?"
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"Now you're starting to scare me," Watanuki said, back-
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ing away from Yilko and protecting his eyes.
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"I exist to scare you. Answer the question. If that would
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work, you would hardly need to continue your life of inden-
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tured servitude here."
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"Nah, nothing like that would really solve the problem.
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Spirits aren't there because I can see them; I can see them be-
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cause they're there. As long as they're attracted by my blood,
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I'm sure I'll still be able to sense them."
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And that ...
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. . . meant that not only his sight, but all five of his senses,
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and his sixth sense as well, would have to be shut down. Or
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nothing would change .
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•
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"H
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h' k
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?"
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mm,you t III not.
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"Well ... I've never tried, so 1 don't know for sure."
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"W tt?"
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an o.
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"Since the procedure would be irreversible, hell no!"
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And if it failed, where would he be?
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Watanuki was no adventure seeker.
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