The Book Eaters

by Sunyi Dean

“All we can do is live by the light we are given.”

Hence the ’eaters remain, remnants of an abandoned alien science project.

She was becoming the wrong kind of princess, the sort that fell in with goblins and got locked away in towers.

“You’ve a low bar for friendship, that’s all.” “If it’s such a low bar, then how come most people can’t meet it?”

can only live by the light we’re given, and some of us are given no light at all. What else can we do except learn to see in the dark?”

was always the same story, she thought tiredly. Just small, angry men, clinging to fading power. They feared living without privilege because they’d abused it against others, and were now terrified of suffering the same cruelty they’d routinely dealt out.

“Information is not intellect. Computers can contain entire books, too, but they’re not considered intelligent yet. It is one thing to have a repository of data, and quite another to use it, let alone creatively.

You’re my monster and I’m yours, and even though I’m sad you lied to me and I’m sorry that we have to hurt more people, we must go together because we are a monster family.”