"......I see." Jake responded.

"Well. That's concerning." he said.

"Hopefully you didn't." he went on, taking another drink of his coffee, finishing it.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Short term AND long term?"

"You could work here." Jake offered.

"Programs like ours tend to be ahead of the rest of the world." he said.

"Mostly because we use mana to augment our tech." he continued.

"That might be worth your time." he posited.

"Maybe. Might not be, either." he then shrugged.

"Just a suggestion."

"Well, you have plenty of time to decide." Jake responded.

"I'm sure we'd be able to get you into NASA." he told her.

"But you'll need to decide for yourself what you want to do, and where." he said further.

"You're brilliant. You have options." he added with a smile.

"I hope I don't get sick, either." Jake replied.

"I have responsibilities." he said.

"Both here, AND at home." he went on.

"And Anya doesn't need to get sick, either." he then added, shaking his head.

"Regardless, how have you been adjusting?" he asked.

"To the Unit, and this world overall." he clarified.

"I would imagine there's a degree of... culture shock, shall we say?"

"From what you've told me, yeah, I'd imagine so." Jake replied.

"Mana being all but gone is a scary thought." he went on.

"For everyone, it's essential, but to those like us, and the people that work and live here, it's a way of life." he mused, looking around the room.

"So many wouldn't even be around without it..." he mumbled further.

"Is there anything I can do to help you adjust to it?" he then asked.

"Even if I, personally, can't do anything, I may know someone that CAN." he reasoned.

"That's the spirit." Jake replied.

He then paused for a moment, thinking about something.

"What about your brother? How's HE faring?" he asked.

"I don't see him around much." he told her. "...and by that, I mean he doesn't really come and go like you do." he then clarified.

"How's he adjusting?" he asked further.

"Anything we need to look out for?"

"....something tells me that's what we'd call 'extenuating circumstances'." Jake responded.

"Navigating a black hole is... well... up until now, I'd always assumed it impossible." he said. "To do it at all would be impressive and disorienting." he went on.

"Under such stress and conditions, I'd say you did very well." he continued.

"...look, what happened is unfortunate, to massively understate it." he then told her.

"But if your brother has any kind of understanding of this, I'm sure he won't blame you." he said, trying his best to console her.

"Well, I certainly hope that won't play a factor." Jake replied.

"Different species or not, you're still family." he said.

"Kiah has a friend that's always saying something about that, too..." he then mumbled. "What was it again...?" he wondered aloud, pondering it and trying to remember it.

"Ah!" he said, snapping his fingers.

"Family look out for each other, no matter what." he repeated.

"And he would know about different species being family." he went on.

"He's a Lantha with a Draydin cousin." he chuckled.

"....." Jake was silent for a moment.

"Ah. Right." he said.

"One's a humanoid seafolk creature with sharp teeth, the others more a forest imp of sorts." he told her.

"You'll learn more about them as time goes on, I'm sure." he said.

He then just sighed, and shook his head.

"...I do hope your worries are all for nought, though." he added.

She was waiting for about 5 minutes or so, before she saw the one she was waiting for. He stepped into the cafeteria and scanned the area before him, locating her.

He then waved to her as he made his way over.

"Hey." he said when he was close enough to talk.

"Sorry about the delay." he apologised.

"Were you waiting long?" he then asked.