Preface
Born in the previous millenium in a fallen empire that exists no more, I was raised as the only scion of a family that might have been called a noble house if not for the historical reality that rendered such things impossible. Living most of my life in the aftermath of that collosal wreck, I lacked company of peers my age and grew increasingly fond of books. One quote has had a more lasting impact on me than almost any other:
Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife — chopping off what's incomplete and saying: 'Now, it's complete because it's ended here.'
I doubt that you need me to quote its source.
Biography
I was born in 1990, in Moscow, right before the Soviet Union fell apart. As it often happened in those years, my father left when I was still in the crib, so I ended up being raised by my mother and grandmother. The family was never rich and moreso, they were often wastefully, almost aristocratically altruistic. Coupled with the slighly condescending hauteur of the former intelligentsia, that made me a black sheep in the eyes of my prospective peers. I had just a few friends, almost none of them for a long time, and my social skills would only develop thanks to the constant presence of my parents' friends and colleagues in our apartment. Although it was an unnaturally lopsided experience, I look back with gratitude, still suspecting that those conversations might have given me more than the company of equals could have.