Koby keeps his arms crossed, giving the girl cautious, sideways looks. He certainly doesn't feel like he's anyone's sibling -- but they must be, right? She looks about his age, so maybe a twin? Or maybe they're...no, they can't be dating. Koby can't be that wrong about himself.

The renewed knocking makes him cringe, full-body, instinctively moving a few more steps away from the door. He thinks: Alvida, her club, blood on the deck. He tries to make himself stop thinking.

At least the girl understands, feels that same sense of unreality, of wrongness. More than that, she launches immediately into a description of something that -- yes, it sounds absolutely absurd, illogical, impossible. But Koby's best friend is made of rubber, so. Maybe not that impossible. "What happened, there? Was it anything like this?"