What can he do but nod at the truth of Crow's words? "That was why he told me what he said about my mother. To Magpie," he adds, as if that needs clarifying. Despite himself, there's a hint of a growl in his voice, which rapidly softens to confusion.

"And yet he asked, first, if I even knew what happens to her in other worlds. What seems to be the rule." Paradox, promise and potential—and all of it adding up to a puzzle that Goro must solve.