"I thought you might be new," Erskine says with a nod. "I like to keep an eye on the network, and I haven't seen you in the Hotel--though I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Many of the Foreigners have taken to living in the Sky Sector in the past few months, after all, and Erskine does tend to hide when he isn't working. "There are several of us around. Not as many as there were. Maybe more than I know about, if they haven't passed through the Hotel."

He falls quiet for a moment, considering. His natural inclination these days is to retreat, to avoid any social interactions that aren't over the network or with people he already knows and trusts. Then again, he's already put himself out there this far.

"Have you been to the Welcome Center, then? Found a place to live and all that?"