Despite the rather grim subject matter, Tony grins a little. "Less crazy than a lot of the stuff I've seen here."

Also, are you sure that's the best choice of analogy here, Valdis? You remember who you're talking to, right? "And if I found a weird, dangerous technology that I didn't understand, I'd probably mess around with it until it blew up in my face, and incorporate it into my armor if it didn't," he says, with humor in his voice. "But I'm guessing that's not the point you're trying to make."

(What is the point she's trying to make, actually? Is he Valdis in this scenario, and the new tech is death magic? Or is he the Aisling scientists and... Valdis is the new tech? Or... God, he's bad at metaphors.)

He swaps the yimo for his coffee mug and takes another sip before continuing in a more serious tone. "What kind of questions are you actually worried about them asking, Valdis? I mean, I get why you play your cards pretty close to your chest, but your powers give you some pretty unique... access? insight? into the planar magic here. You might help a lot of people."