Exercise was one of the few pleasures Alonso truly enjoyed. It gave him purpose, pushing his muscles to their searing edge. The strain reminded him that his body had not been formed by the random coupling of two defectives. No, the Malthians had been quite intentional with his siring; any traits that might impede his role as Guardian had been bred out from the line generations ago. In that sense, he was a perfect man. A triumph of Malthian social hygiene.

Alonso did a few more rounds. Heavy weights followed by calisthenics to loosen the muscles. As he neared the end of his workout, the dark clouds gathered once again inside his head. There were some defects not even good breeding could eradicate.