'Sma, believe me; it has not all been "fun".' He leant against a cabinet full of ancient projectile weapons. 'And, worse than all that,' he insisted, 'is when y

'Sma, believe me; it has not all been "fun".' He leant against a cabinet full of ancient projectile weapons. 'And, worse than all that,' he insisted, 'is when you turn the goddamn maps upside-down.' 'What?' Sma said, puzzled. 'Turning the maps upside down,' he repeated. 'Have you any idea how annoying and inconvenient it is when you get to a place and find that they map the place the other way up compared to the maps you've got? Because of something stupid like some people think a magnetic needle is pointing up to heaven, when other people think it's just heavier and pointing down? Or because it's done according to the galactic plane or something? I mean, this might sound trivial, but it's very upsetting.' 'Zakalwe, I had no idea. Let me offer you my apologies and those of the entire Special Circumstances Section; no, all of Contact; no: the entire Culture; no: all intelligent species.' 'Sma, you remorseless bitch, I'm trying to be serious.' 'No, I don't think you are. Maps...' 'But it's true! They turn them the wrong way up!' 'Then there must,' Diziet Sma said, 'be a reason for it.' 'What?' he demanded. 'Psychology,' Sma and the drone said at the same time. —— Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks, London: Orbit, 1990