What is it that you long for best, that clenches teeth and claws over the ventricles of your heart?

What do you do with humans? You eat from them just a little, if they are delicious. You delight in their flesh sometimes, if they are not tedious.

What if I said I wanted a friend?’ The ship crouches among the fresh-cut stalks. ‘Or a lover? That’s how you make a person, yes? By affection and intimacy. By touches like knives in a...