"'Basic nature' is basic for a reason," Sam says, offering a shrug. "It's how people, including a lot of non-humans, are... wherever you're from. Sometimes it gives you some common ground to go on in situations like this, but it can make for trouble. Basic nature means people will fall back on the same instincts and vices a lot of the time."

Old habits die hard and all that, though sometimes they're more dangerous to others, and to themselves, than just 'habits.'

"It might," he concedes, raising his eyebrows. "If your world doesn't have that stuff now, it doesn't mean you never will. Someone might invent it in your time, even."

You never know, right?