Auberon (The Expanse #8.5)

by James S.A. Corey

Everyone’s playing by the rules, and then something rolls through and changes them all. Things get scrambled for a while until everyone figures the new rules out.”

“The thing is,” he said, “you only have so long to figure out the new rules. That’s what kills you. You’ve got to look at the situation like you’re just coming into it, because you are. And sure, maybe it’s got the same street and the same people. That doesn’t mean it’s the same place. All the things you just take for granted about how it works are up for grabs again, and—”

Because it was developed, it was influential. Because it was influential, it was wealthy. And because it was wealthy, it was corrupt.

Overdoing is also falling short. Better to have a good night end well than push for perfect and undo what had been achieved.

“There was a guy I knew back in Sol system used to say that money was like sex. You thought it would fix everything until you got a lot of it. Because that’s what we all reach for. Anything we need, anything we want, anything that’s grinding us down, we can get high or rich or laid and make it better. Only if that was true, people would eventually get enough drugs or money or sex and be happy.”

You have to decide whether you care more about being your best self or your real one. If you’re more loyal to who you ought to be or who you really are.