“That one of those funny speeders from the War Cult?”
“Haven’t you heard New Monarchy’s the favorite to win this rally?”
“I’ve heard a lot of things. Popular sentiment holds little predictive power.”
“Heh. You weirdos finally win one rally, and that’s all it takes for you to get cocky?”
“You mistake assurance for cockiness. Lakshmi knows when we’ll win or lose, and much more besides.”
“Nice idea, knowing what’s coming, but everybody knows it’s impossible to see the future. You can stay on your funny sparrow, but get off your high horse.”
“Everybody used to think it was impossible to escape death. We come back from the dead on a daily basis. How can any of us have the impudence to believe we know for certain how anything is? And what’s more, even if you believe the future is unknowable, how dare any faction throw the very idea of reasonable foresight to the wind, and look to the archaic past for a regressive, slapdash excuse for a policy of—what? Kingship? You want a king in times like these? A person of unimpeachable moral character? That’s what you regard as a reliable foundation for governance and decision-making? No. Humanity doesn’t have the leeway to spare to indulge backward-looking fantasies. The path to a world where we survive at all is crushingly narrow. We can’t pretend a king can save us, or try to run away. Anything we can do to anticipate what’s coming, that’s what we must do—and that’s what the War Cult does.”
(G-008 Ziphopper w/ Honors of the Nine)