She was mortally afraid of being touched. When she was nine, her parents told her the facts of life, at least as they understood them.

"Your heart is made of glass," they said. "If you ever let anyone touch you, it will break."

Shaking hands was always going to be a problem. Armoured gauntlets were not always appropriate. And so she waited in vein for a social scene where a suit of armour was considered the height of cool.

Rollo Kim