He gave Howard a strange look. "Are you saying you'd rather not exist? There's a possibility that they might feel fear and pain sometime during their lives... but that's how life is. I don't know too many people who would rather have died before they were born."

"Either way, you're taking a life. Is it better to take someone's life before they've had a chance to live it, or after they've experienced it for a while?" Howard seemed to think it was somehow better -- cleaner -- if animals didn't have a chance to get to know the world before they died. But that didn't sit will with Zouichi, somehow; it was like trying to absolve oneself of guilt.