"I'm not human either," says Daniel quietly, and he makes no effort to suppress the subtle ache of sympathy pinned behind the words. "That doesn't mean I'd ever let that part of me fade. What I am now - like this, I've been encouraged to let go of that. But I haven't. And I won't."

He moves his projection closer with even, controlled steps. The semblance of physical substance. Either it's getting easier or he's not paying enough attention to the process itself, the difficulty of maintaining the details. He doesn't care.

"I was cast out for it. I was maligned, seen as a, as a failure. But it was worth that." He searches Rashad's stare, the clear lines of unhappiness in his form and his face. "I wouldn't give it up for anything."