Given that he had been returning as an ex-defector, Anatoly wasn't sure how good things could possibly be, but he said nothing. The mood was already sober enough and he didn't want to add to the gloom. No matter how the situation was playing out, he would never know unless the Island sent him home.

He nodded in response to her words, smiling faintly. "This is true, though I admit it's hard to remember sometimes. There are so many children here, some of them the age of mine."