Verla says that nobody thinks of himself as a villain. Even the nastiest person thinks that he is in the right.

Verla says that no one thinks of himself as a villain. Even the nastiest person thinks that he is in the right.

All those square-jawed heroes of the old science fiction stories had it wrong. You can't save the world as we know it. I did what I could, and I did some good in the world. But you can't save the world without changing it.

We talked about each story for a while, and then Verla talked about heroes and villains. 'Nobody is all good or all bad,' she told us. 'The world is painted in shades of gray.