The contortions required to see this fellow, even in part, must make Prior look like a fool. Or perhaps a bird. He bobs this way and that to hope for a more complete picture, but it's nearly impossible with the obstructions, unfortunately. He gets part of the mask, part of the face, and when he listens it really requires listening because it's m every bit like he's breathing through his ears.

"I feel as if I'm in the middle of a ritual," he notes, his best response to this man's understandable paranoia. His accent — English — isn't nearly as crisp or neat when he practically has to shout through the thick fabric of the gas mask.

"Do you think any secret will do?"