"She has a number of incarnations you'll come across. Several of them are involved in the various schools here. The other big thing is there are...Trials every month or so. Technically, this may be one," he says, nodding around at the boats.

"Some of them are much less pleasant, or...highly mixed." A beat, and he adds, "Depending your point of view."

His smile goes funny. "Last month I experienced a life with the sort of childhood I might have had if certain events before I was born had gone...differently."