[ Hei isn't much concerned with the universe or his rightful place in it, in the implacable spiraling of darkness and despair. The gap between human beings and their footholds in existence is a nice enough murk in which to drown yourself. So many have drowned themselves in it before. But what Hei's interested in more is the gap between people and people, and none of the above. Those engulfing silences between people. They're just specks, but they believe they're so close because they're in the same place, as if a string of concurrent words or a transmission of heat or bodily fluids are the beginning and the end. They don't even know themselves. They're question-marks suspended in cavernous bodies, if that. Living is a succession of endings, occupying space. ]

[ No. Scratch that. Most aren't even occupying fucking space. They're walking gaps. ]

[ He wouldn't say that to Pavel, though. Misanthropic contemplation has its place. This isn't one of those moments. ]

It's the same concept in my world. [ A beat, then two, before he amends, quieter, ] Contractors don't dream. [ Hei does. But then, he's not what you'd call the conventional Contractor. ] They were exchanged mostly for symbolism, with my old teammates.