"They didn't exactly have a choice," he explains. "Well, I suppose they could have ignored the body and just carried on around it—I think that would have been much more impressive, personally—but evidently they decided to clean it up first."

This, needless to say, gets him a great deal of attention. He follows up with the same explanation he gave Ivan and Vorob'yev, rephrased and elaborated somewhat to include more detail and less colour commentary. When the aggregate curiosity of a few dozen delegates has been satisfied, he lowers his voice slightly to resume private conversation with Mia.

"Did you have any luck with that little research question I posed to you last night? I, uh... don't think this is the time or place to discuss it, but..." he would very much like to know if her answer will contain the words 'seal of the Star Creche'.