It was moving.
Something else came through, just for a blink. A wooden cart on a dirt road. A row of kids sitting along each side with their bags on their knees. A tin cup going from hand to hand. A girl with short hair looking down into it.
Then it was gone, and he was on his knees in the dirt, breathing hard.
'Luna. Luna, what the hell is Vermes Tenebris?'
'Old words. Worms of Darkness.'
'There's a WORM in her HEAD?'
He thought of a bucket in a freezer with a green crust round the rim. He thought of the cafeteria, and one serving of everything.
His stomach turned over.
'Wait. I ate that. I ate two plates of that! Is there one in ME?'
'There was, for about an hour. Do you remember the man who came into your Mind Space?'
'Erebus.'
'I burned it out of you before he'd finished saying hello.'
'...Have I mentioned you're the best?'
'Not today.'
He looked at the green thread. He looked at the furrows in the dirt.
