“Up near the top, underlined and in capitals were the words: 'READ THIS.' Jay grimaced as she wondered what she was in for. Would it be a semi-literate political rant, a half-baked conspiracy theory or a quasi-religious manifesto? Perhaps it was just a very long suicide note: a self-pitying list of misfortune and hardship. Whatever it was she doubted it would contain anything useful. Unable to put it off any longer, she finished her coffee and began: 'We are all stories that we tell ourselves, memories selected to fit our chosen form. What becomes of us when there is no-one there to read?” RealityAlternate RealityMetafiction Book:Mortlake and Other Stories Source: Mortlake and Other Stories
“If the next generation of nanotechnology could be used in medicine to repair organs and tissue from inside the human body, then it could just as easily be programmed to destroy them, making it the ultimate weapon of assassination. Imagine clouds of these things flying to their targets to either be breathed in like a virus or ingested with food or drink, and then creating fatal haemorrhages or lesions that lead to death from apparently natural causes.” ParanoiaAssassinationConspiracy TheoriesNanotechnology Book:Mortlake and Other Stories Source: Mortlake and Other Stories
“The Arts and their supporters pointed out that, far from just lifting the poor out of poverty, universal ownership of molecular fabricators could, in terms of material possessions, give everyone everything they needed and leave everyone free to pursue their dreams and full potential, whether academic, physical or creative. There it was, right there. The pursuit of happiness, made reality. This revelation gave even the most hardened cynics pause for thought.” Artificial IntelligenceThe Pursuit Of HappinessMolecular Fabricators Book:Mortlake and Other Stories Source: Mortlake and Other Stories
“It will change everything. We won't need governments and corporations. The very concepts our economic and social systems are based on: money, wealth, privilege, will be meaningless. What use is money when everyone can build everything they need?'... 'These are people who've spent their whole lives fighting their way to the top and you're just going to tell them that there is no top anymore?... it's you that doesn't understand: they only care about material things as status symbols, to show that they're better than everyone else, that they've beaten everyone else, that's what drives them. They'll never give that up.” ParanoiaConspiracy TheoriesNanotechnology Book:Mortlake and Other Stories Source: Mortlake and Other Stories