Chapter 30 page 13 ~ We did it thirty-five minutes ago
[thump]
Blake: Careful, boss . . . You can touch it gently, but if you blot out any of the letters . . .
. . . I think something bad happens.
Miranda: It’s the Contract . . . and there are ways it can safely be rewritten.
We can take a Being out of the Game. We know one who was made without it, and we’ve upgraded several others. We do that to Blake, we put him back together afterward, everyone goes home happy.
Walker: I have a better idea. You put Blake back together right now, without making any changes whose purpose and effects I have no way of verifying . . .
and I give you the locations of certain other Beings, to which only I have access. I can assure you, they will make far better guinea pigs. One of them is even in the same order as the guinea pig.
Sparrow: . . . ooh, can I tell her?
Ouch! I know that reference. One of the most jarring moments in a generally jarring story.
Just in case anyone doesn’t know the reference, Spoilers for Alan Moore’sWatchmen.
Spoiler
the climax of the Watchmen comic in which the primary antagonist of the piece reveals that he’d already struck and his plan had succeeded while his opponents were fighting their way to him
Excellent reference.