Palamedes frowns at the girl for just a moment longer, not quite believing the way she immediately shakes off his question. But there isn’t much he can do about it, and she does seem hungry, and so he lets it go for now.

As they head to the elevator, he chatters in a mild, unassuming sort of way. “I’m called Palamedes Sextus, and I have been aboard the Serena Eterna for, oh, about nine months now. You will soon discover that many of us have been pulled here from very different universes. For example, I’ve never met a woman with wings before.” He flashes her a small smile. “They’re quite impressive.”