Well, unless anything's changed, they had it in their heads that they deserved to interact with gods. I sold the pitch of Spinetail to them: that it would be able to cut through whatever's keeping a god hibernating and wake it right up. All of the tests seemed to hold to that, quantum physics and otherwise.

[A beat.]

Spinetail, if you don't know, is a machine that I created to destroy a god and harness its power. But them—the ones backing Johann and then me, heh ... they believe that they deserve to be these gods' chosen ones. Not sure how it works, and I didn't care. But they had some proof that this was real, and where I was before—that place was lorded over by, ah, how did one guy put it? "Lovecraftian overpowered nightmares."

[He turns, reaching into a fanny pack that he is wearing incredibly unironically to get some more bird seed.]

I saw my shot. Took the introduction to Johann. The rest is history.

[Another bird flutters down. This one seems a bit edgy about being in the room with Jason. But it perches on his wrist.]

Are all these questions going to be about Johann?