There's another pause as he considers the answer; honesty never hurts with even a temporary warden but thinking about it all too long was ... upsetting. "Possibly. I was born with ... certain ... vile abilities that cause degradation, a rot in body, soul and mind if used."

And that, by tone and bearing, is very much uncomfortable to dwell on. "I've been cured of it, near as I can tell, but it's possible the process damaged my mind at the time as much as it did the others. I can't say in retrospect how many of my actions before I was killed were because of degrading or ... purely my own decisions. I've assumed til now that it was likely, and thus why I was offered this chance instead of simply forced to be here."