"Hard to say," he agrees, like he's been on the same thought a while. "Guess I'll have to sample some others, see how many turn up bloody. Feels a little pointed."

For more reasons than she could know. He's the only one who'd immediately cotton on to the horror of it, but also, he's probably the only guy who's tasted the stuff on purpose. Better not to mention that bit.

"Any other signs of stuff carrying over? This is my first reset, you know. Apparently I picked an exciting one. They're really pulling out all the stops."