"It's strange," muses Riordan, "but if anyone's noticed the mysterious disappearance of the man whose place I took, I've heard nothing of it. Nor was I questioned when I sold his belongings. It's as if he was once, is not more, but that... somehow... doesn't register. I wonder, then, if it is the same for those back home. There must be a unique interruption of time and perception that is created by the same forces that disturb our universes enough to transport us here. Nothing else makes sense."