"I–no, of course," [i]Vance replied, backing off. He had a feeling that he'd finally reached his limit, that he'd spoken too much. And so, he lapsed into a period of silence, deciding that it would be unwise to speak anymore. During this silence, he thought to himself; he understood Victoria's words, but wasn't used to people doing anything for Contractees out of kindness. Nobody had ever done anything for the Contractees at the lab. Nobody had ever done anything for himself. And nobody had ever done anything for the Contractees he'd met afterwards... and so he took a peculiar interest in Victoria, for she was the only one to have befriended two Contractees.[/i]