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'Somehow, I doubt that,' said Pauline.

"Tch. That's a very rude thing to say, you know. I have hidden depths." Roman looked to Hector for some reason, then cracked a goofy smile. "Very hidden, maybe, but they're there. Right, Hector?"

"Er... yeah..."

"C'mon, man, you've gotta agree with more enthusiasm than that. She'll think I'm full of shit, otherwise."

Hector couldn't help laughing now, too. "Are you full of shit?"

"Dude..."

'Perhaps your depths are too hidden for you own good,' said Pauline.

"Alright," said Roman, "forget I said anything. And you never answered my question, by the way. If you didn't pluck it out of my brain, then how do you know my last name?"

'I overheard it.'

Roman raised an eyebrow. "When? I'm pretty sure no one has said it during this trip."

'Yes. This isn't the first time I've seen you.'

Roman blinked. "Say what?"

'A billionaire servant living in Atreya? You may be good at fooling people with your disguises, but you'll have to do better than that in order to remain under the radar of Sparrows. In truth, I've known about you for a few years.'

And for a moment, Roman looked genuinely unsettled.

Hector could hardly blame him.

'Sorry,' said Pauline. 'I didn't mean to disturb you like that.'

"I'm not disturbed," said Roman.

'Yes, you are. I can tell.'

He frowned. "Right..."

'If it makes you feel any better, I don't know everything about you.'

"What else do you know about me?"

'You're not affiliated with the Vanguard. Your reaper's name is Voreese. You live in Walton. You are quite close with your personal secretary--who is also rather fascinating, by the way. Your relationship with her is somewhat--'

"Alright, alright. That's already more than I wanted to hear."

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'...I suppose I could,' said Pauline. 'But why would I do that?'

Roman shrugged. "Because it'd be fun?"

'I'm already a talking bird. Is that not enough for you?'

"What can I say? I want to experience all of life's great wonders."

'Are you telling me that a talking dog is better than a talking bird?'

"Hmm. That depends. Would saying that piss you off?"

'Quite possibly.'

"Ah, so you Sparrows are proud of your heritage, then? That's cool. I can respect that."

'And I suppose I can appreciate your affection for talking dogs. I'm sure they would be much more interesting than talking apes.'

"Oho! On behalf of the entire human race, I take offense to that."

'No, you don't. I'm psychic. I can tell.'

Roman laughed again. "Alright, so what am I thinking right now?"

'It doesn't quite work that way.'

"Oh? Then how does it work?"

'Thoughts are generally too complicated to read. Emotions are a bit easier. And physical senses are easiest.'

"Ah, I see. So what am I feeling right now, then?"

There arrived a pause. '...Nothing in particular?' she said.

"Wow, you're right! Good job."

'You are a very strange man, Roman Fullister.'

He perked up at that. "How do you know my last name? Did you pull that out of my brain, too?"

'Didn't I just tell you that thoughts are too difficult to read like that?'

"Yeah, but a single word probably wouldn't be so hard, would it? That, or you could've been lying. Trying to get me to let my guard down so that you could rifle through my head and learn all of my juicy secrets."

'Heh. Unfortunately, the 'size' of the thought makes little to no difference.'

"Mmhmm. You didn't deny that last thing I said, I noticed."

She gave a silent laugh. 'Do you even have any juicy secrets that I would be interested in?'

"Sure, loads."

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'Oh, so you're just gonna casually rat me out like that, huh?' came Pauline's telepathic voice. 'And after you told me not to reveal myself, too? I'm not sure I can forgive this betrayal, Lord Goffe.'

He couldn't respond to her, but judging from her tone, she was joking.

Probably.

Hector hoped his understanding of avian psychic inflections was accurate.

The group gathered in the airport's food court while they waited out the storm. None of the shops were open--or even staffed, for that matter--but there were a few places with prepackaged food on display. Hector wasn't hungry, but apparently some of the Lorentians were. Secretary Karr didn't stop her people from taking anything, but she did insist that they leave the appropriate amount of money behind for whatever they chose. She even paid for a few things herself.

Hector observed the civilians closely, wanting to gauge how well they were handling the pressure of the situation. On the whole, they seemed like they were doing alright, but he could occasionally spot their hands trembling or their shoulders shaking.

Hector admired their courage even more, somehow. They were true professionals, showing up for work at a place like this and not visibly panicking, but in the end, they were still normal human beings.

"Hey, bird lady," said Roman suddenly, addressing the empty air in front of him. He was sitting with Hector, a good distance away from everyone else. "You can hear me, right?"

A beat passed, and Hector wondered if she would respond.

'Yes, I can. What do you want?'

"Aha. Cool. I was just wondering something. You can make incredibly lifelike avatars of yourself, right?"

'Indeed. And now I'm sure you're wondering why I haven't made one in order to talk with you.'

Roman chortled. "Actually, I was wondering if you could make an avatar of yourself that doesn't look human."

'...Excuse me?' said Pauline.

"Like a dog or something," said Roman. "Could you make your avatar a talking dog?"