The fact that some powers work here while others don't is interesting. Haizea can't control the weather, but Matilda can teleport. As much as Garrot wants to summon a clone, he does not want to run the risk of it saying something stupid here. Plus, there really doesn't seem to be enough room for two of him.

"But didn't this all start at Harsen Island?" Garrot sounds skeptical of this little field trip. He wants to buy into it because everything started on the Island, so whatever she wants to show them they can see when they're awake. So it's a waste of time, and good for the fate of the world. But she's been at this for forty years, she knows how to manipulate people.

"So tonight's a meal, tomorrow's the date, and then you start tricking people into wanting to fuck over the world." He's sure there's something to learn there, something about the center of the planet being alive and her relationship with the Protector. But he doesn't trust her one bit to be the narrator on that story.