[For the first time, Cassel dons a mask: a careful, cool, neutral mask. Whether it's to shield himself from pain or to shield Beyond, he couldn't honestly say, but his smile is gone either way.]

[It's true: he doesn't know Beyond. Not really. You can't get to know someone in a couple of days. Once, he would have said you can never really know anyone. That everyone lies, all the time, that it's only a matter of time before anyone sticks a knife in your back. Once, he would have smiled and nodded and agreed with everything Beyond is saying now, because it's only logical.]

[The knowledge of how easily he could be betrayed still looms large in his mind. The difference between who he was then and who he is now is that he takes chances, now. He allows people to hurt him, if that's what they want to do, and realizes that the vast majority of the time they won't. Even here, he's either been remarkably lucky or his tactics remarkably effective.]

[He levels his gaze on Beyond and nods: acknowledging that everything he's said is true.]

You're right. I don't know you. I don't know what you've done.

But you don't know what I've done, either. Everyone who is here has been brought for a reason.

[He sits back in his chair, pulls something out of his back pocket: a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.]

Do you mind if I smoke? [And the mask is gone, as if it never was. He smiles.]