"Thank you. Uh, have you ever... had a conversation with someone from Iral or somewhere else in, uh, I think you called it Russia, before?"

" - not that I know of? I don't speak Russian."

"Does it make any sense to you if I say that some people from Russia - not generally me, but some - say things that are... mistaken?"

" - I mean, some people here do that too, like, my wife thought she'd want to stay with me forever but five years later she was out. Sure would be nice if no one could be mistaken."

"That makes sense. I was just... confused because I had gotten the impression that people here might not... check that kind of thing?"

" - might not check if people are mistaken about whether they want to be with you for life? Well, honey, I recommend checking that. Be really thorough."

"I plan to be, but I meant that it seemed like people might not check if, uh, if they forgot whether they already paid for their groceries."

" - well, if you aren't sure I guess I'd ask the person at the register if they remember ringing you up."

"And then would the person at the register be able to check and not just rely on what you remembered?"

" - I expect it's in the computer? But also they'd probably remember. I feel like if you have memory issues, probably you don't get hired as a cashier."

"Right, that makes sense. Like how you remember the thing I told you about the war."

" - is it like that?" Genuine confusion. 

Confusion is notably different from unquestioning acceptance. "Apparently it is. I had gotten a really bizarre impression of people here but now I think that impression was mistaken. Can you tell me how I might go about paying for shelter tonight and transit to Vladivostok tomorrow?"

" - well, do you have any money?"

"No, only valuables."

" - then I guess I'd recommend you go to a pawn shop and sell those for money, though they're not going to be open right now in the middle of the night."

"I see. Can you give me directions to a pawn shop?"

" - I don't really know."

"There's one at MLKJr and 7th," says the other police officer.

"Thank you. Uh, do you remember the thing I told you about the war?"

"You mentioned a war, sorry, I don't remember what else you said about it."

"That's okay, I was actually only saying it because I wanted to know if you were a nonperson with a cognitive problem, and now I think it's only the people doing menial labor who are nonpeople with cognitive problems, or possibly that actually no one is and Jimenez was messing with me."

"I'm pretty sure that menial laborers are people. Some of them do have cognitive problems, though, like there's a program for people with Downs to work at supermarkets."

"Is Downs a condition that causes people to be unable to understand the concept of someone saying something... mistaken... on purpose?"

" - someone saying something  - mistaken - on purpose? If it were on purpose, it wouldn't be mistaken!"

"I mean like..." Teru grabs the nearest food item. "This is mine, I've already bought and paid for it, you saw me do that."