Was he terrified? He wasn't. Ought he have been? Possibly. He didn't feel calm, but neither was it terror. Instead, he felt lost, and tired. Too many nights of pondering over what could become of his humanity.

"This has happened before. Twice. The first when I was eleven years old. I think I might have been terrified then, but ... "

He stared at his hand in Nina's lap. It felt like it didn't belong to him sitting there, but it was his.

"I've got work to do, and this is going to make it that much harder."