Of all the things Valdis has said, it's hearing that she's not well - and not all there - that makes him relax and even makes him smile a little. Something could pretend to be his mother, but would it know enough to make even something as old as Valdis worry? Probably not.

"That's my mother. She has never been well, and she has never been all there. But if she could talk to you, then I can talk to her." And he needs to talk to her. He has to understand how she's here - if she's really here, or if this is part of his own mind. Valdis says she's a separate being and he believes here, but he also wonders if she is mistaken. Siffleur is also hardly the picture of mental health. He knows this. But...

"I have to see her." He says, softly but insistently. "I last saw her five years ago, and I thought she might be dead. I need to know what happened."