"Sometimes," Cosima says, flashing a smile. She adjusts her glasses a little and peers at the other woman, trying to decide who or what she is. It's scientific curiosity, more than anything else, and her mind is running a thousand miles a second trying to answer her questions before they come spilling out unsolicited.

"So, can I ask you something? You can tell me to fuck off, or whatever, but I'm dying to know some things."