- Demerzel: I am sometimes called away to other matters, as I am now. It happened often during your formative years, as I was trying to stitch up the fraying ends of Empire. You grew up with an uncertainty in mind and morals. I hoped initiating physical intimacy with you would give me the influence to correct your shortcomings. That failed. I apologize to you for what you have become. It was my oversight.
- Brother Day: What have I become? I have become the Day who saw that change was needed, who made the change happen, who set up to father a new line. What have I become? I am a complete man.
- Demerzel: No, you're a sperm led by its waving flagellum, mistaking its random motion for complexity. Now, go do what you will do, for it's too late to change you.