[Want, Ben would explain, is different from have to. It's a distinction he's had to learn himself, no emotional connotations attached, at least not in the good vs. bad sense. Data has no social impact. That is what he tries to make his decisions based upon.

But she doesn't ask him or tell him anything about that. He watches her fists and her fingers, her eyes as she considers attacking him, though it wouldn't be an attack. She wants to use him against herself. He waits to see what she'll decide to do and when she only speaks, he takes several more moments to consider that.

The sharpness. The knives inside. They have names, and he knows them now.]

Fear and anger. [He raises his chin slightly. There's no judgment in the words. They're just words. Something to call something that is.] Fear makes you angry. Anger makes you powerless.

Others will use it against you. Use it to control you. You have to learn how to hold onto it yourself, and decide who it cuts.