I had seen the moving pictures known as movies since coming to the island. It was all very strange to me, though many here seemed to find such a phenomenon commonplace. I supposed it was part of being from so far in the past, in comparison to much of the population. Either way, I did not take much of an interest in the projector that sat in the rec room, nor in the reels it played.

It was for that reason that I focused on Kate, not on what she watched, when I first entered the room. I studied her body language, using the tools Phedre had given me, the gifts my mother had passed on to me. I noted the tension in her shoulders, the set of her jaw, the tear tracks on her cheeks. I saw her fault-lines, the weaknesses she hid so well, but also the strength she possessed.

"Oh, fuck me sideways," she said as I moved to her, sat next to her. A crude joke passed through my mind, spoken in Eamonn's voice, and I brushed it aside.

I opened my mouth to tell her to shut it off and promptly closed it again. Hadn't I always wanted to know the truth? Why wouldn't Kate have the same desire? "I can stay, or I can go," I said instead. "Tell me which you would have me do."