"You don’t realize what’s at stake. It’s not your body they want. They want to kill you. They hate your sterile guts. You don’t know how I talked, persuaded, coaxed them...Listen, they use hallucinogens. Your brain turns to pudding in Carnaval. You don’t know what your own hands are, much less someone else’s genitals...You’re helpless. Everyone is helpless, that’s the point. No more games, no politics, no ranks and grudges. No self . When you come out of Carnaval it’s like the first day of Creation. Everyone smiles." Lindsay looked aside, blinking. "It’s real, Nora. It’s not their government that sustains them, that’s just the brain. Carnaval is the blood, the spine, the groin."