"Very impressive," the man said, never taking his eyes off Babel. "So the stories are true. The otaku have the ability to deck without a deck, controlling computers with nothing more than the power of their minds. I can see why you are considered a valuable prize, Babel. Your gifts could make some of the hottest ice-cutting technology available look like an antiquated tortoise system in comparison." Babel raised his head from the chair as best he could to look the man in the face. The man looked familiar to him somehow, but Babel couldn’t retrieve the memory from the whirling flood of images in his mind. Mama was right, his name was Michael, and he knew this man.