“I…” The man seemed to have difficulty finding the right word. “I… exult when I win. It’s better than love, it’s better than sex or any glanding; it’s the only instant when I feel…”—he shook his head, his mouth tightened—“… real,” he said. “Me. The rest of the time… I feel a bit like that little ex–Special Circumstances drone, Mawhrin-Skel; as though I’ve had some sort of… birthright taken away from me.”
