"Accounts ambushed us downstairs. We could have used your help. But you were nowhere to be found." He drew himself up and glared at me, his face twisted. His hands were balled into fists. "Aren't you one of us?" he demanded.

Chiang's main characters explore their universes on profound levels, and in each story striking images mark a place where the fundamental laws of the universe must be re-examined. . . .

Roses want to eat the ivy, / fill the oaks with blood. / They want kisses and hatred, / chocolate and vengeance;