"Guns are made to kill people," Anton said. "They're like swords. Most of the time they have no purpose other than to harm." He laid a hand on Daisy, rubbing the engraved brass of her chassis. "Sometimes they can be pieces of art, valued because of how they look instead of what they do. Daisy is the only weapon I have kept for more than a few decades. I don't need to use her. The look of her is, most often, enough."

He looked at Meisheng. "Yunxu is interested in guns as weapons. It's a trade he would accept. But if I lend you Daisy, she will have saved two lives without having killed anyone at all, and that is true to the purpose I would prefer for her."