He pressed the 'down' button and stood beside her as he'd stood before; silent to the extreme. Mandi suddenly realized that she hadn't noticed his footsteps in the hallway, either. "Why are you so quiet?" she asked. "Just a habit, I guess." For once, the elevator arrived quickly and they boarded. As Mandi stepped in and turned around to face the door, a brief and almost complete silence occurred around her and she wondered if her pictures had already somehow been leaked. As the con-related chatter resumed around her, she heard two teen guys whispering in the back. "Wow! Check her out, man!" "You think I'm not?! Jesus! I'd lick my way up to her..." A woman said, "One more word, Tim. Go ahead. One more." "You aren't my mom, Jackie. I can... Ow!" "If you don't knock it off, I can tell your mom what a wonderful little gentleman you weren't at DragonCon. Now can the crap or I'll pinch your other tit, you little twerp." There were snickers and giggles and a snort of laughter. Mandi glanced at Cade with a grin and Cade returned it as the elevator doors opened and they stepped into the lobby. As the woman herded the two teens past them toward the escalators, Cade said, "There goes your adoring public." "Oh, wow," Mandi said in a flat tone. "Be still, my heart." They set forth toward the Orchid Ballroom as Cade said, "Most men never grow out of that stage, you know." Grinning, she said, "I've noticed that now and then." Sighing dramatically, Cade said, "I feel so transparent." Mandi laughed, looked at him, and laughed again. "Ed, you're probably one of the most un-transparent people I've ever met." "The word for that is 'opaque', ma'am." After a quick, sharp glance at him, Mandi gave him a wry grin as she said, "Yes, I know. I wasn't sure you would." "Gee thanks. That, by the way, was an 'antiphrasis'." Mandi stopped and looked intently up at him for a moment, nodded, then continued walking. As they reached the escalators that led to the ballrooms below, Cade asked, "You had to look that one up, didn't you?" When Mandi didn't answer, Cade said in German, "I'm very sure you have been told often that you're a very beautiful woman." Without a hint of hesitation or unnecessary modesty, Mandi replied in German, "Yes, I have." Nodding, Cade said, "Kinda thought you could do that." "Why?" "You wouldn't have been sent here unprepared." Giving Cade a sidelong glance, Mandi asked, "What makes you think I was sent here?" "You aren't a product of normal anthropogenesis and nobody on Earth could create you in a test tube. You were manufactured somewhere else." He glanced at her and added in French, "And whoever did it did a damned fine job." Mandi grinned and returned in French, "Thank you again," with no regional accent. It was schoolbook French; the precise, formal kind you learn only in