"Our line of questioning led to a rather harsh cutoff." She has another sip of tea. "So while he is, hopefully, minding himself to avoid any further physical repercussions, I'm refining our line of questioning. Being overly direct or demanding yields quite harsh feedback, so a more delicate and annoyingly roundabout method is in order.

"For example, asking for names yields a bunch of nonsense - likely because multiple sources seek to respond at once. Simple yes-no questions work better, but were not entirely problem-free. Yet when asking to indicate whether or not we are in this place as a trial or punishment, with distinct options to select to prove as such, the responses were very uncertain.

"I imagine getting easy philosophies onto the why or the science of how will not be easy. With this avenue, at least."

She goes quiet for a bit to eat.

"If you wish more more guidance in general, I would say study yourself first and foremost. What you know, what you infer...what may be lingering at the surface. Memory recall is sporadic, but there are some here better at it than others. Ryan, for example...I would consider him far more helpful in that regard than I."

Because he's friendly and approachable and she's...her.