Huey’s brow wrinkled in distaste. "My point is," Huey said to Oscar, "we’re in the same boat now. If I’d just kept hold of that Collaboratory, I could have spread a new cognition on a massive scale. In fact, I’m still gonna do that—I’m gonna make the people of this state the smartest, most capable, most creative people on God’s green earth. You put a serious crimp in my production facilities—but hell, that’s all history now. Now you’ve got no real choice but to help ol’ Huey. Because you been hanging on to power by the skin of your teeth, cadgin’ favors, hiding your past. Now you’re a freak twice over. But! If you come on over to Huey now—and if you bring along your loving girlfriend, who’s the source of all this goodness in the first place, and is in the same boat as you—then you get a brand-new lease on life. In fact, the sky’s your limit."