"I suppose," he said gruffly. But as he thought about it, she had a point. Why would the test include strangers as witnesses to these memories, these vulnerabilities? Certainly he wouldn't have been invited into Vincent's memory. As it was, he was barely welcomed.

And who could blame them for not welcoming strangers into their innermost secrets? It was personal, private -- weakness.

"Perhaps they wanted someone else to force me to watch this," he muttered, not seeing an immediate use for Zelda. "Make sure I play their game."

And as the people in the crowd glared at him for speaking, for existing, he simply glared back until they averted their eyes.