[Smoke's fiddling with the cigarette pack didn't escape Huo's notice. He pushed his chair back, rising.] Shall I open a window? [Small distractions like that were always useful when there were thoughts to be gathered, and Smoke as giving him much.]

Please forgive my speaking frankly, [he said as he walked around the room, pushing open one window then another,] but you make it sound as though these crystals are less an opportunity to regain what was lost, and more another mean for the Tree to toy with us.

[His voice was calm, curious but businesslike. It was less a question of feelings and more a question of gain and loss. There was a intelligence behind the Tree, and he could not help but treat each of its antics as a personal challenge. Memories could not be an exception.]