"You're welcome," Xeha says. "I made a promise. Or the old man did, at least. It was time one of us kept it."

With that, he starts to unzip his coat, dropping it to the floor and stepping over it to pick up. Damn, it feels good to be out of that thing again, put aside his counterparts' mark of shame.

"I'll need to run a few tests, of course, at some point. But there's no rush. I'd suggest you just practice for a while."