Willing announced, "We need a gun."

"Are you off your nut?" his mother exclaimed. He would let her sputter through her predictable indignation, but he was bored. "We are not having a gun in this house. I don't believe in guns. Half the tine it's the person who owns the drafted thing who gets shot. What on earth would we need a gun for?"

"To protect us," Willing said, "from people like me."

- Chapter 12: Agency, Reward and Sacrifice - Mandibles