appetite dressed as spirited inquiry
it’s really Pemulis and Axford and Hal’s right—duty, almost, to the spirits of inquiry and good trade practice—to sample the potentially incredibly potent DMZ in predeterminedly safe amounts before unleashing it on Boone or Troeltsch or any unwitting civilians.
Context
Using rebranded as scholarship and even ethics: it's not merely a right but almost a duty, in the name of the spirits of inquiry and responsible trade, to sample the drug first. The rationalization is airtight and self-flattering, and the budget line — always room for spirited inquiry — is the appetite's accountant, funding the debauch under a heading no one has to feel bad about.