The woman sitting by the door is Kiki. She's still wearing her grease-stained gardening gloves. The sniper rifle is across her lap and she's staring ahead at the wall. Slowly, she faces Amstrad.
   He recognizes her instantly. From Hyperspace. From where Charmorag- the daemon glasses- came from. She was- or maybe will be?- in Time Prison. And she knew him already when they met there.
   "Kiki?" Amstrad says.
   She nods. "Are you the new guy?"
   "Have we... met?"
   She quints. "Hm… No. I'd remember the glasses."
   Amstrad looks away. Does he tell her? How does she end up in Time Prison? Is this how she ends up there? Back then, she said he could fly. These urgent thoughts flutter across his mind, but especially with the sunglasses, he just looks spaced to Kiki.
   "The others are just inside." she says and gestures to the door.
   "What are you doing out here?" Amstrad asks.
   "I don't make friends with money-grubbing killers."
   Amstrad looks at her sniper, then back to her. The thoughts get bottled up for now. "Cool."
   Jabber opens the door and his face lights up. "New guy! Come in!" he pulls Amstrad inside. "Sorry if Kiki was saying anything fuckin' weird. She's a high-and-mighty type but you know, probably the best we got. Unless that's you, huh? I'm messing with you. My name is jabber. I'm your everyday hired gun. Pew pew kind thing, yeah. This is Catch. He's sleeping with his eyes open. Yeah so every afternoon usually he does this. But he's a veteran actually. Served in the Lithium wars and shit, but I think the scar on that right brow is from his wife or something. Good fighter when he's here, if you know what I'm saying. And this is Sam. You're gonna love Sam, I can tell. She just sits here reading porn next to her samurai sword. Not porn? Then what? What the fuck else might that picture be? 'Erotica', I've never heard that word in my life. 'Action-erotica' it says on the back- I do a lot of reading the back of that book when she holds it up when you're trying to talk to her. Am I right? Well she's just quiet and meditating and shit you know. Got that weird arm thing where she doesn't have one."
   "I have an arm." she interrupts.
   "It-it-it's fuckin' metal. It's in bed and you're in a chair, that doesn't count. She just shakes her head at me all the time, but hey, it's better than yellin'. So yeah we usually stand around and wait to be called on. Eat breakfast in the main cafeteria type area they've set up for everyone. But you'll find nobody talks. Nobody 'cept me. I swear to god. How 'bout you? What's your deal?"
   Amstrad shrugs. "I just have to make rent."
   Jabber waits a second like Amstrad is expected to continue. "That's it? You don't talk either?"
   "I guess not."
   Jabber puts his hand on Amstrad's shoulder. "You know, I might blow my fucking brains out 'fore the jawbreakers do."