Cinder Quotes
"By the time it was extracted far enough for her to wrench free with her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been stripped clean."
"A sense of release hovered at the end of those wires—freedom."
"The netscreens that covered every building and filled the air with the chatter of advertisements, news reports, gossip."
"The hum of ID scanners and monotone voice receipts as money changed accounts."
"The bellows of men as they bargained with robotic shopkeepers, trying to talk the computers down from their desired profit margins."
"The precarious fantasy crashed down around her as quickly as it had begun. It was impossible. Not worth thinking about."
"She was cyborg, and she would never go to the ball."
"They said she knew when people were talking about her even thousands of miles away. Even down on Earth."
"With some attention and a good cleaning, it could be restored to its former glory."
"Maybe this wasn't a fantasy vehicle, maybe it wasn't their key to salvation, but somehow, someday, she would leave New Beijing."
"I didn't ask to be made like this. I didn't ask for you or anybody to adopt me. This isn't my fault!"
"You will understand that I am doing what a mother must do, to protect my children."
"Nobody survives the plague. If you care for Peony as much as you claim to, you'll do as I say."
"You are the first. I have some theories about how it could be possible, but I’ll need to run tests, of course."
"It is possible that you were born with it. Something in your DNA that predisposed your immune system to fight off this particular disease."
"Stars, no. You are much too precious to kill."
"With your help, we could save hundreds of thousands of lives."
"You have no idea how important…no idea of your worth."
"The emperor must be the first to receive the antidote."
"You should be grateful your surgeons took such care."
"I’m sure I’ll feel much more grateful when I find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on."
"They must have been worried about your system overheating."
"Because that car is going to get us out of here."
"Tomorrow will be a dark day for the Commonwealth."
"The city was all shadows, blurry, sleepy apartments and empty sidewalks."
"The stench of excrement and rot reached out to her as she stepped into the warehouse."
"She was glad to have brought a nice one for Peony."
"Glossy eyes looked up, following Cinder as she hurried by."
"Cinder wasn’t sure she would have recognized her if it hadn’t been for the chestnut curls draped over the pillow."
"If I’m immune, then there has to be a way to defeat it."
"Cinder convulsed, tying her arms around her stomach."
"Cinder flinched, her skin tender, but tried to relax as the android drew a fresh sample of blood."
"Her netlink fished for information, telling her that the palace had been built after World War IV."
"Cinder stood frozen, her wired nerves humming."
"But just as she cannot trick the netscreens, neither can she trick a mirror."
"I am not talking fate or destiny. I am talking survival."
"Uselessness was the worst emotion they knew."
"Despite Kai’s nonchalance, it was clear this android knew something important."
"War strategies? Classified communications? Evidence for blackmail?"
"Whatever it was, Kai clearly thought it would help, and he’d trusted Cinder to save it."
"The only way to determine what was wrong and if a reboot was necessary was to check the android’s internal diagnostics."
"Connecting her own wiring with a foreign object had always felt hazardous."
"I’m hoping for a more favorable answer this time. And I seem to be getting more desperate by the minute."
"Ruin my life to save a million others? It’s not much of a choice."
"You’re not fine," said Kai. "What causes it? What can we do to make it stop?"
"I may have misread your diagnostics." Or "Or you just didn’t tell me the truth."
"What isn’t fair is that you are still alive while she is not."
"You should have died in that accident. They should have let you die and left my family alone!"
"I can get the money back. Enough to buy Peony the most beautiful plaque—or a real tombstone even."
"As punishment for your thievery and for attempting to run away this afternoon, I have decided you will not be allowed to attend the annual ball."
"In some cultures they would cut off your hand, Cinder. Consider yourself fortunate."
"You are not human, Cinder. It’s about time you realized that."
"Anger sloshed through her. She wanted to rampage through the house, destroying everything."
"Then she really would be a runaway cyborg, but this time, Adri wouldn’t be able to track her."
"I solemnly swear to govern the peoples of the Eastern Commonwealth according to the laws and customs as laid down by generations of past rulers."
"Together we will find a cure for this disease. We will defeat it."
"I will do whatever needs to be done to keep you all safe. That is my promise."
"She would have made it, she thought, as the palace came into view, towering over the city atop its jagged cliff."
"This is a night for celebration and amusement."
"Stars," she whispered. "It really is an illusion. You're not beautiful."
"We must have peace, but not at the expense of freedom."
"I'm so sorry," she finished, the words falling lamely in the open air.
"You’re even more painful to look at than she is."
"Cinder’s heart shriveled inside her until she was sure it would stop beating altogether."
"Setting his jaw, Kai turned back to the queen."
"But if you kill her tonight, I swear I will never agree to any alliance with Luna."
"Kai was buying her time. But probably not much."
"Cinder watched the queen fight with her temper, knowing she could kill both her and Kai in a blink."
"Levana tilted her head up, looking down her nose at him."
"Market day, the humid air, the smell of Chang Sacha’s sweet rolls permeating the city square."
"Cinder sighed and changed the tempo of her tapping fingers."
"She tried her best to stand, peering at Kai, wishing she could have just one moment to tell him how sorry she was."
"Don’t worry. You’ll find it comes quite naturally when you need it."
"She couldn’t hide the dead tentacle wires dangling from their metal stump."
"What was that about putting her out of her misery?"
"You all should have some respect! That girl’s going to be executed!"
""You mean my room," said Pearl, her lip curling as she began to shuffle back toward the house."
"Pearl can take the room," she said. "I don’t mind sharing with Cinder."
"This is the smallest room in the house. Our bedroom is much nicer."
"But look, you can see the neighbor’s cherry tree. It’s really pretty when it blooms."
"Do you like Nightmare Island? It’s my favorite drama."
"I’ve heard of it. That’s the show with the crazed scientist, right? I’ve never seen it, though."
"Good. I hope you’ll let me know if you need anything. We’re glad to share our home with you, knowing what you’ve been through."
"It seemed small, but it was larger than the sleeper car on the maglev train."
"I wondered how common glitches were in androids. Or cyborgs."
"Cinder licked her lips, thinking to say thank you again, but then a small orange light flickered in her optobionics and she found herself frowning."
"Garan told me you wouldn’t want for much. I hope this meets your expectations?"
"A mattress sat in the corner with blankets tucked neatly around its sides, and a small dresser stood empty on the nearest wall."
"The entire government, gone. Law enforcement, disbanded."
"Chaos rose to fill the void that civilized society had left behind, and fear and distrust would rule for twenty long years."
"The Age of Anarchy might have gone on for another twenty years. Fifty years. An eternity."
"Sometimes I forget that I’m not human. I don’t think that happens to most androids."
"She’d done it. She’d fixed the android. She’d proven her worth."