At the balcony that Greg emptied - he literally stepped into the space and said, “Out. All of you.” - he guided Sush to the far end, away from the light and noise from the inside, glared at the slowpokes taking their time to disappear, linked two mavericks to stand by the balcony entrance to stop anyone else from entering, then gave his full attention to his octopus.

Sush had been mentally rehearsing her way to start when they were on their way here, but she knew the lengthy story she hoped he was prepared to hear would still come out unstructured. “Before we get into… the layers, I need...