I think he just explains it as part of the Culture's jurisprudence, not something he himself was subject to. Gurgeh is notoriously bad at maintaining a cover (which is why they tell him almost nothing)!

The Algebraist isn't a Cultu... *I am abruptly yanked offstage*

Yeah, it's kind of frightening, isn't it?

Musk is known to be a fan of Banks's Culture novels. He is not known to be an understander of them though.

(I'm remembering it as the Azad in Player of Games, but it might actually have been the Affront in Excession. Either way, they were horrible.)

Which isn't even neccesary in most Culture habitats, because there'll always be a Mind around which can effortlessly monitor everyone under its care all the time anyway. The whole bit is just someone struggling to explain the Culture's "laws" to a society of tyrants.

And it's also a last resort, because the Culture primarily treats obvious criminality as a medical problem (again, there's no property, resources are abundant for all). It's main use is a monitoring device to ensure the perpetrator doesn't hurt anyone else.

The point of a slap drone, as one Culture citizen explains to an outsider is, "You don't get invited to many parties." It's for a civilisation that doesn't believe in - or really have any need for - a penal system, where the only viable punishment is reputational.

That would have to be a different robot.

I assume that's how they will meet up, yes.

All the best superhero movies have been the ones that just take the presence of the lead as a given and have them show up doing the things the whole audience already knows they do. This obsession with arcs and origins is exhausting.

Just missing the Cowardly Lion, I suppose. www.patreon.com/posts/scarec...