Being too new to have lived and grown used to the rhythms of Trench, observing others says something of their expectations, and the friendliness of those on the boardwalk to newcomers with the understanding of washing up naked and, of one sort or another, alone is a kindness toward strangers and outsiders uncommon on the Frontier. Sometimes even uncommon among vampires. This world may be as hard as the Frontier, but its norms differ, as makes sense in a world whose havoc has come from other sources. It remains one of the warmest welcomes he has seen in many a long year.

"By 'into their own'," Mayerling asks, "what do you mean—from squid to their remembered forms? Breaching consciousness again? Accepting that they have come into a new world different than their own?" Again, new though he is, he is not sure, beyond it depending on the person, what stage is considered difficult.