"If that's what you gotta say," he drawls, "to sleep at night."

Kovacs pulls out the nemex and shoots the side of the elevator. A glittering redness falls momentarily away-- a hologram to make an old building look new and fresh-- before retracting around the bullet hole. "I'm not fucking kidding, Poe!"

His yelling contains hurt, like a stray dog choking at a new and unwelcome leash.