"Paul was from the Tail. He was always good at building or fixing stuff. Making things work when they were broken. And then one day, years back, the guards said they needed a mechanic, and they took him. And that's where we found him, in the car with the protein block machine. They had him keeping it working. But they only needed one guy working on it, so ... he was alone there. Like, all that time."

He leans into Max a little, only about half aware of the movement.

"Curtis tried to get him to come forward with us, but he wouldn't. Said his place was there."