"Aerial obstacle course? That sounds downright hostile to short-legged types like myself," he says wryly. "I suppose I may visit Undine, though. Can't be any worse than the other two, surely?"

His smile drifts again, fading, and he shakes his head. "No, no, I wasn't looking for advice. I just...I always wanted a family. A husband and children, or even a handful of partners and children adopted between the lot of us. I have a lot of siblings, and I ventured furthest from home to support them, and I thought I was used to that. Evidently I'm lonelier than I thought."

"Mind you, the fallout from the disaster with Wulbren doesn't help."