Samanouske laughed softly, and nodded yet again. Scrolling through pages and pages of information, all stored on one, small, portable tablet fashioned of gods-knew-what was mind-boggling. He wondered if there were still monasteries devoted to preserving written works, and if the monks were now in charge of inputting the data into and maintaining the banks of servers.

But he tried not to think about it too hard, lest he give himself a headache from all the speculation.

"I am used to being on my own," he said, "I've traveled with companions from time to time, but..." He lifted his right arm, showing her the gauntlet with its bizarre, blinking orb of energy. "Chances are, I will eventually outlive them anyway, even if I am returned to my own time."