[ Doesn't lie? What an anomaly Spock would be, in Hei's world. No man in his experience lives and breathes without deceit. (All the honest men are dead and squashed flat, having been buried in their sleep by the weight of their own truths.) Even here, away from the Syndicate, Hei's life is a lie, ensconced in a bunch of subsidiary lies. Lies shooting at all angles. Still, he's learning, step by step, that it isn't always necessary to sell someone an illusion, to conjure up a mirage by playing-pretend. He can't grow from lies and fabrications; honest development -- within himself, with other people -- doesn't happen that way. ]

[ (There was a time when Hei wouldn't have cared. But that'd also be the time he didn't have Pai with him.) ]

[ 'Li' blinks at Spock's gesture, seemingly slow on the uptake. Then he realizes -- Oh. ] S-Sorry about that. [ Dabbing the smears off with a sheepish smile, he remarks, ] If you explore new planets, I'm sure you've come across your share of ... um, hostile elements. Have you ever been attacked?