He turned first to Gwen. She still looked as stunned and vacant as she 
had, more or less consistently, since he told her that he had received a new 
assignment "whose nature I am not at liberty to disclose, save to say that it 
concerns the future, not merely of my department, nor of John Zaibatsu, but of 
that phyle into which you had the good fortune to have been born and to which I 
have sworn undying loyalty," and that he was making a trip "of indefinite
duration" to North America. It had been increasingly clear of late that Gwen 
simply didn't get it. At first, Hackworth had been annoyed by this, viewing it 
as a symptom of hitherto unevidenced intellectual shortcomings. More recently, 
he had come to understand that it had more to do with emotional stance. 
Hackworth was embarking on a quest of sorts here, real Boy's Own Paper stuff, 
highly romantic. Gwen hadn't been raised on the proper diet of specious 
adventure yarns and simply found the whole concept unfathomable. She did a bit 
of rote sniffling and tear-wiping, gave him a quick kiss and a hug, and stepped 
back, having completed her role in the ceremony with nothing close to enough 
histrionics. Hackworth, feeling somewhat disgruntled, squatted down to face 
Fiona.