"I apologize for being so familiar," Amberdrake says while being so familiar. It's not just that he sat down and dragged Sanzo down with him, but because while he says it he actually reaches to touch the monk's face. He still can't completely believe he's real.

And he still can't see all that clearly, although the bright artificial light in here helps a lot. The fact that he didn't have to crawl here under his own power has helped, too, letting him recover just a fraction of his normal energy. Just enough that breathing isn't dangerously difficult now.

"You're exactly the same as I remember you. I must seem a stranger."