"Perfect," he says with a curve of a smile, immediately picking up the pad and pencil and setting to work. The page is soon filled with a series of letters and numbers that distinctly resemble the sort of equations usually employed among theoretical physicists. "Have I told you yet how remarkable paper is? I still can't quite believe how casually people use it here. You can find it back home, but it's terribly rare and precious."

He stops abruptly and pauses, tapping the end of the pencil on his chin as he looks over his notes. "Well, it's a start. I may need to sleep on it." With a rueful smile Pal turns back to Darlington. "I'm afraid my demonstration didn't live up to expectations," he says. "Sorry about that. What I get for being so cocky."