yet there is the constant desire to find some point in the twisting , knotting , ravelling nets of space-time on which a metaphorical finger can be put to indicate that here , here , is the point where it all began ... something began when the guild of assassins enrolled mister teatime , who saw things differently from other people , and one of the ways that he saw things differently from other people was in seeing other people as things ( later , lord downey of the guild said , 'we took pity on him because he 'd lost both parents at an early age .