"Atoms," Mark mumbled.
"No need to swear about it," she chided him. "Come on, Mark. Just think about it for a minute. And be consistent."
"Consistency is all right for a free psi," he said. "It sure doesn't do a protobody any good."
Jennette laughed scornfully. "I'll bet you believe all that stuff they feed you in the Decanting Center about ancient history."
"'Course not," Mark said defensively.
"All right then. Why follow all these rules of social conduct if there's no good basis for them?"
"Aw, but there is," he replied seriously. "There was a big war—way back centuries before we were decanted out at Center."
"Hah," said Jennette.
"Sure. And it was a whole lot of people who cooperated with each other in it. There must have been hundreds of them—it was an awfully big war. Hundreds of people, all on one side, all fighting together against the other side."
"I don't believe it."