She's not sure what he means at first, but then she remembers his mountain-climbing and laughs softly at the comparison. "My mom told me never to climb a tree that I can't get back out of, hopefully someone gave the same advice to the people you go climbing with."

Reynard is asking such good questions, she has to visibly hold back from going into full teaching mode. "They're a vital part of the ecosystem, for sure. For example, decomposition of matter is dependent on microbes. Without them, dead stuff would pile up... plant matter, especially. You could probably create a functioning artificial environment without microbes, but not a whole planet." She pauses thoughtfully and adds, "At least, that's how it works in my universe... and yours, too, probably. I can't speak for all realities."

It is comforting to know that he finds it just as disturbing as she does. "I'm fine with the Nexus... it's the friends I made that I miss the most." She looks down at her plate, mostly crumbs now, and sighs. "And I worry sometimes that it will happen again. That I'll show up one day and everyone I care about will be gone. It's already sort of happened... have you ever met Steve Rogers? He was badly injured during the invasion."