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   &*

Snippets from recently read texts

Fraa Jad looked up. Until now I had thought that his hands were folded in his lap. Now I saw that he was holding a disposable razor, still encased in its colorful package. I had one just like it in my bag. It was a common brand. Fraa Jad was reading the label. The big characters were Kinagrams, which he would have never seen before, but the fine print was in the same alphabet that we used.

"What principle explains the powers imputed by this document to the Dynaglide lubri-strip?" he asked. "Is it permanent, or ablative?"

"Ablative," I said.

- Anathem