No, [ peter admits. ] I can guess at some of it, given her reaction to me mentioning scientists... [ he adds, a slight sigh punctuating the reply. ] I don't know if it's something she was born able to do, but my guess is that her abilities were discovered pretty early on, right? So — held in a facility, maybe government-sanctioned, maybe not.

[ the difference hardly matters, really, not now. it's the end result: a child traumatised by events beyond her control in her past. he pauses and spreads his hands out against the table; the cynical side of him says that regardless of whether it was sanctioned or not, the aim would have been to weaponise her — or work towards it. that was always the way, wasn't it? or simply keep her locked up, just to try to figure out why she's the way she is. ]

She mentioned experiments, so—. [ he lifts a hand and waves it vaguely. ] Either they were the wrong crowd, or a few someones want to figure out the extent of what she can do and how, either to use her or to replicate the ability in other people. [ a breath of a pause. ] For what it's worth, I can only imagine what she's been through, and ... I'm sorry. If I'd known, I'd never have brought it up.